


The Ambassador

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff, Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Spoilers for Episode: s05e23-24 Reunited, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-07 18:59:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15225786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Steven joined the Diamond Authority and needs Lars' help in reaching his goals





	1. Ambush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story behind this fic is very nice. I'm currently ill and in my fever-induced dreams, I had the idea for this story o.O I worked on my other fanfic "A vacation for Steven" the whole day, yesterday. So this night, I got nightmares of writing another story xD Sorry if it is far shorter than the other ones, but I'm still ill and finishing "A vacation for Steven" at the same time. I might have become a bit addicted to this ship...

This was taking forever. They had been doing this for months. Lars was sitting in his commander’s chair, boring himself to death. If at least his friends would show up once in a while!  But it seemed, like they had forgotten about him completely. Steven’s last visit had been four weeks ago and he had not heard of him since. Last time, he had been extremely nervous and fidgety. He had told him, that there were problems at home and everyone was going insane.  When he asked, what these problems were, he only brushed him off. When he pried further, his friend had to leave all of a sudden. He hugged him goodbye and vanished.

Since then, no one had visited him. Well, his other friends like Sadie had not come here in the first place. They only had written him letters once and that had been it. He assumed, that they were having enough fun without him. Sadie had even started a band! He felt utterly alone. 

His crew could only give him so much comfort. They just weren’t humans; well, he wasn’t either. They sometimes trained him in combat or educated him on gem-culture, but that was it. No chatting, no joking… They behaved like professionals at work! 

Currently, they were aiming for one of Yellow Diamond’s colonies. They had to get extra parts for their ship, or their journey would take over a hundred years. Also, they desperately needed fuel. They wouldn’t even make half the journey without it. It would have been nice to have some form of help from the Crystal Gems. But no, since Steven didn’t visit, they were on their own.

They approached the planet. It was bigger than earth’s sun and it’s color was brown-ish. They were quite lucky, as no other ships were around at the side, where they wanted to land. As silently as possible, they landed in a desert behind a big rock-formation. Their destination wasn’t too far away. It was a sort of storage building for any resources, they found on the planet. Sneaking into it wasn’t too hard. This was a fairly old colony with almost no active kindergartens, so almost no guards were to be seen. Inside, there were little to no guards as well and if they wanted, they could just take anything they wanted.

The captain become suspicious. Something was off! It was far too easy. He pulled the twins and Rhodonite behind a shelf, Fluorite and Padparadscha had stayed at the ship. “I think, something’s going on here. It was far too easy to get here,” he told them.

The twins brushed him off and went away, searching for materials “Don’t worry. I don’t think anyone even wants these materials anymore. Why would they even still search for us? The ship is broken and they can just make a new one. It’ll be fin-,” she said. But really, nothing was fine. As she rounded one of the shelves, she suddenly broke of her talking and instead did a shocked squeak. The next thing they heard, was the bright sound of a gemstone hitting the floor. Quickly, Lars ran towards her and wanted to safe her from being shattered. Rhodonite followed, not wanting to stay alone. 

When he rounded the corner, he saw where all the guards were. He estimated, that there were twenty-something gems ready to off them. This was an ambush and they had run right into it. Before he could even shout an order at Rhodonite, he heard another shout. As he turned around, two more gems were lying on the floor. They had been behind them as well! He couldn’t fight them! Without his friends, he had no access to any weapons. What would they do to him now? And what had happened to Fluorite and their other friend? “What do you want from us?!” he shouted in despair.

Some type of Quartz approached him- it was rather pink, so he guessed, it was a Rose Quartz. But shouldn’t they be in captivity? “We have orders to bring you back to Homeworld- alive. But if you struggle, one of your friends might have an accident,” she warned.

Why did they want him alive? Would they blackmail Steven with him? But he didn’t have a choice anyway. He had to comply or the others would be shattered. 

He held his arms up in defeat “Fine, I’ll come with you!” and let himself be taken away. Meanwhile, some guards picked up his crew from the floor. He was led through the warehouse and outside. They followed a small path in the sand and he was led to something, he knew was a warp-pad. He was sure, this would be it. This would be his death- a permanent one. He would have to stand trial in front of the diamonds and then he would be killed or tortured. He felt kind of bad to have wasted so much time on travelling to this planet, just to be captured. Also, he could have just warped there. Sighing, he felt the pull of being teleported. 


	2. Revelations

When they materialized again, his mood only worsened. He felt something sharp in his back and a guard shouted at him to go forward. Of course he obliged. He didn’t recognize the building they were in. The only remarkable thing about the hallway they went through, were pink banners on each side. Was he in Pink Diamond’s court? But it didn’t make any sense; why would they take him here of all places? They poked him again with a spear, when he wasn’t going fast enough. They could at least have given him a bit of dignity...

After what felt like eternity, he was led towards a gigantic door. Lots of gems were running around the hallways, seeming quite occupied. Perhaps they prepared his execution now. It still bugged him however, that lots of the gems were pink-ish and seemed to be somewhat happy. Why was her court so full of life, if she was dead? None of it made sense...  He wondered, if anyone would even notice his death. After all, no one cared about him anymore. Two quartz soldiers were standing in front of the door and opened it for them. The next room was beautiful. It had a roof made of glass, it’s walls were white and everywhere were pink banners and- roses? Where had they even gotten these from? On the opposite end of it was a big throne- he must have been in Pink’s throne room. Did they want to make him regret, what Steven’s mom did?

He was led closer and closer to the throne, before he was violently pushed down onto his knees.  “Stay there,” the Rose Quartz from before ordered. Why did he have to kneel? Was this some sick kind of joke? Or were they retarded and thought, he was a gem because of his color? He looked to the side- the Rose Quartz had positioned herself near the wall, guarding him.  She angrily pointed forward- he wasn’t even allowed to look around? He felt anxiety rising in him. Surely, Blue and Yellow Diamond would come now and kill him or something. He could only assume, Yellow especially hated him. He had taken her ship, he knew.

He heard teleporting in front of him, but didn’t dare to look up. It was them, he was certain. However, a very familiar voice spoke to him “Sorry, Lars. I wish I could have handled this differently, but the Sapphires foretold, it wouldn’t have worked. Welcome back to Homeworld.”

Now, he really had to look up- no… it could not be! Wide-eyed, he stared at his friend. In shock, he tried to stand up, but the Rose Quartz pushed him down again.

“Sorry, but you’ll have to stay there. Formalities and such,” he was told.

“S-Steven? What are you doing here? I don’t understand-,” he began stammering. Had Steven changed sides? But how? He was a war criminal, he couldn’t just take over Pink Diamond’s court as a Rose Quartz, could he?

Steven chuckled, while assuming a more comfortable position in his throne. “First of, call me by my real name in public: Pink Diamond. And yeah, the reason I’m here is exactly that. I am Pink Diamond,” he started explaining. He told Lars everything and didn’t leave out any details. He must have told that story four or five times by now- maybe he should record it, so he just had to play it back? In the end of it all, Lars was only looking at him in a mixture of awe and confusion.

“Okay… And why did you bring me here? Where are the others? The Crystal Gems, I mean,” he asked. Kneeling really started to hurt by now, but he couldn’t stop. His best friend really looked different. He looked older and taller somehow and he didn’t wear his usual shirt. He had traded it in for a white one, without a star. Also, he wore some sort of very light coat in pink- it was more of a grand piece of cloth. On this coat, there were diamonds stitched onto it in a lighter pink. His behavior and clothes kind of reminded him of a king. The only thing missing was a crown.

“That’s the problem. The Crystal Gems are against me being here more or less. We have a very fragile peace going on between them and us. They know, who I am and I told them, I did not want to betray them in doing this. Still, they don’t want it. They don’t trust Blue and Yellow, or even White. I had to get you, because I couldn’t let you fly forever in naught. Also, you could come in handy in dealing with earth,” the diamond elaborated for him.

“M-Me? But how? You don’t want me to convince them, do you? Ste- Pink Diamond, they’ll think I’m a traitor! If they even think, _you_ are one… Also, I’m not good with words!” Lars disagreed. He had no chance!

Steven smiled sadly at him “But who else could do this? Besides me, you are the perfect link between gem and human. Also, the Sapphires saw a very high probability of you succeeding. You’ll be our ambassador! I need you to help me. I can’t do this alone.”

Lars was dumbfounded. The diamond really placed a lot of trust into his abilities. “And what about my crew? What are you going to do with them?” he inquired.

“Don’t worry about them. They will be safely stored away. I can’t let them walk around, yet. Emancipating off-colors and fusions is a whole other story, Lars. Peace is more important. Now, will you place yourself in my service?” the diamond cocked his head.

When had he become so… eloquent? It must have been bad influence from the gems. “I don’t know- I’m kind of overwhelmed to be honest. Can’t you give me a bit more time?” he begged. He couldn’t answer that question now! What if he chose the wrong thing?

“Hm… I can give you one or two days. But then, we’ll really have to hurry up. Do you have any other questions about it?” Pink Diamond granted him his wish.

“What does that even mean- placing myself in your service?” the pirate wanted to know.

His friend shrugged “Nothing much. You are technically mine anyway, because I revived you. But I’m not a monster, who will force you into obedience. I give you a choice here; but if you say yes, there is no going back. Then you will be irreversibly bound to me and my court. You’ll have to follow my orders and no one else’s. But I won’t order you around anyway, because you are my friend!”

Thankfully, he had asked. So, saying yes will enslave him. Just awesome. “And what if I say no?” he pried further.

Why did he have to ask so many questions? “Then I’ll send you back to earth. But if things go wrong between earth and us, I can’t protect you anymore. And the probability of it failing without you is high,” he pressured him.

“You would side with Homeworld?” Lars could have never dreamed of it. Just because he was a diamond, he didn’t have to be on their side!

Pink Diamond nodded “I don’t have a choice… Do you even know, what they’d do to me or earth? We never had a chance, Lars.  Also, I have to fix my mom’s mistakes. Running away like her is no option. And ideally, we won’t get into a fight with earth anyway.” He saw his pinkish friend being kind of lost. He would be too, he assumed. None of this would have had to happen, if the Crystal Gems had given in like him. But they were so stubborn! They wished for things, which were impossible to achieve. They demanded to overthrow the Diamonds! He couldn’t do that…

He jumped down his throne and went up to Lars. While holding out his hand, he proposed “Let’s go somewhere else now. I’m sure, you don’t want to kneel there all day. I can show you the planet or even universe, if you wanted!”

Lars took the hand, he was offered and finally stood up. Then, he took it upon himself to hug his friend. It was probably really inappropriate, but he couldn’t begin to care. “Yes, that sounds nice. I haven’t spend time with you in so long- but at least I know now, why you didn’t show up,” he whispered to him.

He could hear a few gasps and whispers from his gems around him and his guards began to approach, but he quickly waved them away. He was very happy, to hug his best friend again. “I missed you as well and I’m very sorry for that. But without Lion, I couldn’t do much. You will like it here, I’m sure! The gems _from my court at least,_ should treat you pretty well, too,” he promised.

“Why? Because you are my friend? That Rose Quartz didn’t really seem to be fond of me…,” he noted.

“She had orders to do so, so you would comply. And yes, you being my friend should make you rather popular. You don’t really have a rank, because you aren’t a gem, but I’ll see to that, _if_ you stay here. I could give you a special rank! Anyways, we should go out a bit, before someone needs to speak to me again,” the diamond reminded him.


	3. Days on Homeworld

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lars has many questions.

He followed his friend through long corridors, decorated with even more pink colors. Any gem they met did the typical diamond-bow and greeted him. He hadn't anticipated any of this. He had always thought, Steven would fight the Diamond Authority until the end. Even if he had known, he was a diamond himself! But he couldn't say, that joining them was a bad decision, either. It made sense. Like this, Steven could use his power to safe earth peacefully. If he hadn't joined them, their confrontation would have been violent for sure. The diamond had said so himself: There hadn't been another choice. They would have lost!

They exited Pink's palace and he couldn't lie; Homeworld was quite pretty. When one didn't have to flee and actually had time to look closer, it was  _perfect_. It was clean and clear. Everything was, where it belonged. There were even some pink alien-plants scattered around in grow-beds. A bit further away to the south, the color-scheme switched to white. On the right, it was blue and opposite of that yellow. In the middle, where Steven led him to, was a gigantic fountain and more fauna surrounding it. They sat down somewhere on a stone platform, that faced that fountain. Lars couldn't help, but notice the guards. They were standing all around them. He had to ask "Are those guards here to  _protect_ you or to keep me from  _running away_?"

Steven laughed "To protect me, of course. If you wanted to, you could leave at any time. You aren't my prisoner, Lars!"

Why then did he feel like one? He had the feeling, that if he did not agree to Steven's offer, he would die pretty soon. The diamonds thought, that their peace would break, if he did. And Steven had made clear on which side he was. "Is there really no other option? Is me being Homeworld's ambassador the only possibility?" he wanted to know.

"Sadly, yes. We need someone, who can represent us and seems trustworthy. The Crystal Gem's demands are unrealistic and we need you to show them that. They won't listen to me anymore! It seems, like they lost their trust in me," he stated. His friend seemed pretty depressed at that. He could understand; the diamond loved his family and must have felt heartbroken. 

Carefully, he lay an arm around the other boy. He really did not know, how far he could go without someone attacking him. But he needed to comfort him! He inquired further "But why? You are only trying to help- It's not like you will hurt them."

The gem sighed "But they think, that I will. When Blue and Yellow arrived, they wanted to attack them right away as well. They hate them so much- they even ignore, that they don't stand a chance.  I told them of my plan to secure organic life, taking those special colonies into my possession and abstaining from owning others in turn. But they wouldn't listen! They immediately called me a traitor for even  _mentioning_  owning colonies. If they could choose, they would shatter all the diamonds and try to make a democracy out of this- but that's impossible! Gems don't adapt well to change. It would be utter chaos!"

He felt the diamond shifting closer, leaning against him. Just now he saw, how  _tired_ Steven looked. All of this must have hurt him pretty much. They would really go as far as to shatter him? But that wasn't fair! Steven had done so much for them... He had even sacrificed himself, knowing, that it might kill him! But would his plan even work? He had three other rulers to convince. "And the other diamonds- did they agree to this or...?" he implied, that Steven was going on a solo-trip.

The diamond nodded. "Did you think, I could come up with a plan like that myself? I'm flattered, but it was them. Believe it or not, they are scared of loosing me again, so they'd do a lot, to keep me happy here. They  _love_ me. Still, there are limits. I can't make a lot of decisions alone and they expect me to be loyal to Homeworld. They wouldn't shatter me, if I betrayed them, but I would surely  _disappear_  for a while," he honestly answered. Steven had become quite close to them in those four weeks, he had stayed. They weren't so scary and aggressive, as he had thought beforehand. 

"Hm... Have you met White yet? You know, we never spoke of her before. I don't know anything about her!" Lars pointed out. He knew, that she existed, but that was it. The others hadn't even said her  _name_ before. 

"Oh, yes I have. She is quite nice, I like her a lot. She must be my favorite around here! She is like... _a mother_! Very kind, calm and loving somehow. She can get a bit scary, as well though. I've seen her get angry once and I don't want to again. Also, she is rather  _traditional_. She doesn't really like me being a hybrid or my idea, that off-colors should be treated better. This might be a problem, because she has a  _higher rank_ than us others. But we'll convince her, I'm sure. She mainly stays in the background anyway. White Diamond doesn't really like all the attention, she gets. If you stay here, I'll introduce you to her and the others," the diamond told him. He looked quite happy, when he described her. Perhaps she was some sort of role-model or mother-figure for him now? 

But there was one problem. "Uh... Don't you think, Yellow will be angry at me? I stole one of her best ships, destroyed it almost and tried to steal from her colony! Maybe I should keep my distance from her," he reminded.

"Nah, it'll be okay. But perhaps I should warn you: They will treat you the same, as I did in my court. Only difference being, that I stop doing that, when we are alone and they won't. Don't expect them to be particularly nice to you, like low-ranked gems. They will treat you like any  _servant_ ," he carefully added. He really hoped, this wouldn't scare Lars away. He couldn't do this alone!

"O-Oh. So I'll have to kneel and do that weird bow for them? I can do that, I suppose. Even if it is a bit humiliating... But do I  _really_ have to do this for you as well? You are my best friend!" Lars pleaded. It would be so weird to  _submit_ to them and especially the younger boy.

Steven gasped "I am your best friend?! Thank you! Uh, and yes you'll have to, even with me. It's a bit ridiculous, but they insist on it. But it isn't just bowing and stuff. You'll have to  _obey_. Don't worry, my orders have priority for you, though. But either way, you can't just decline. If they tell you to do something, which I agree to,  _you'll do it_. If you agree to my offer, of course. By the way, my magic will force you to do my bidding anyway. The others can't do this, however. I hope, this doesn't weird you out too much?"

"Of course, you are my best friend! The others seem to have all but forgotten about me. And I guess, it's alright. I mean, they won't order me to kill someone, right? I'm just there to do the talking. ...what do you mean by ' it'll force me to do your bidding'?" Lars insecurely asked. It sounded kind of fishy.

He couldn't  _not_ tell him; it would be unfair. "I told you, that Pearl couldn't tell us this secret, because mom ordered her not to. I can do similar things to you. I-I can demonstrate it, if you want?" the diamond proposed. When the zombie went on to nod slowly, he ordered him stand up and jump, until he said otherwise. Instantly, Lars did so.

"Wha- What is this? I can't stop! Oh stars..." he exclaimed while jumping. Lucky for him, the diamond let him stop and he sat down again. "T-This is extremely scary, to be honest. But you promise, you won't use this, right? A-At least not that often?" he quickly asked. The diamond agreed and promised, as demanded. With that mostly settled, their topics shifted. They talked about earth and how things had developed up until four weeks ago or even about the Crying Breakfast Friends. 


	4. Agreement

He was laying on a bed right now. Steven's bed, to be more specific. The diamond had showed him a lot on Homeworld and he was quite overwhelmed by it. Steven had become rather tired as well, as he was partly human. He had proposed some sort of slumber party, only problem was: on all of Homeworld, there was only  _one_ bed. Gems didn't need sleep after all. So, he had to share this one bed with Steven. He didn't need to sleep, but it felt good. Also, Steven's bed was gigantic! The diamonds must have thought, he would still grow. One could have fit four to five people in it! But really, he loved this bed. It was the softest thing he had ever lain on, it was only befitting for a king. It _was_ pink, though. 

Another good advantage of being Pink Diamond's friend was, that he also had a shower! He hadn't showered in  _months_. It had been extremely relaxing, to have warm water run down his ice-cold body. Just for this, he would leave humanity behind! And lastly, he had  _food_. Another thing, he didn't need, but definitely did not mind. They had eaten so much sweet, delicious stuff... he was sure, he would burst soon. He hadn't felt this happy in a very long time.

The diamond seemed to be equally satisfied, laying next to him. Still, something seemed to bug him. Lars saw him playing with the hem of his shirt or hiding his hands in his sleeves insecurely. He had already observed, that the other was quite tired, as well. But he didn't sleep! Instead, he only lay there, doing nothing. Something was off and he intended to change that. "Is something wrong? You look so tired and kind of unsure," he worried.

He had noticed? Steven had not thought, Lars might care so much about him. Perhaps it was better, to tell him the truth? He wanted him to stay here and he surely would not, if he lied to him about the simplest things. He admitted "I-It's a bit stupid and this isn't supposed to put more pressure on you, okay? I felt a bit lonely theses past weeks and I can't really sleep well, if no one is there. Having guards around just isn't the same, as having my family and friends here. A-And we have been planning to bring you here for weeks. I'm just scared, that you'll leave me and I'll be all alone with this again. I miss earth...But no one there wants to help me!" Steven began sniffling a little; all of this was too much. He couldn't pretend, everything was fine forever.

"I-I...I won't leave you. I'll stay with you! No one wants me back home, anyway," Lars agreed to his offer from before. He just couldn't stand seeing his normally joyful friend like this. Steven was just  _too young_ to be able to handle this alone. 

Steven turned to his side, regarding him "N-No, you're just saying that now to comfort me. I-If you truly want this, you'll have to testify this in front of my court and the diamonds, anyway. Just leave it be for now, until tomorrow. I told you, this wasn't supposed so pressure you into agreeing. Also, of course they want you to come home!" He shouldn't have said anything. 

The zombie smiled and whispered "Steven, don't worry about it, you aren't forcing me into it. But yes, let us speak of this tomorrow again. I don't think, that many people miss me. Since you got me those letters, no one wrote any new ones or visited, although they could have. It doesn't matter, anyway. The Lars they knew, isn't there anymore anyway. I'll just have to befriend them again. Now, how about you get some sleep now? You can't rule very well, if you don't!". However, even covered by a blanket and well-fed, the diamond did not look, like he would be able to find sleep soon. He turned and tossed every few minutes. "...Can I help you somehow?" he went on to ask, when he couldn't bear it any longer.

"I don't think, you'd want to. If I were at home now, I'd  _cuddle_ with Lion or Garnet. But I'm not. I don't even have a plushy! So really; I don't think I have to say out loud, how you could help. Because you already know and won't do it. It's okay, Lars. Just ignore me," the gem silently murmured and turned away. He was so fed up with not being able to sleep. He had had four hours sleep a day and it was slowly killing him. Still, he couldn't demand of his friend, that he would cuddle him. He knew, that this would be extremely  _uncool_. And if he  _forced_ Lars, he would not agree to his offer. 

"I've told you, the old Lars isn't there, who would have shied away from this. I'll hug you! Really, I'd  _love_ to," he exclaimed, while crawling closer and laying an arm over his best friend. 

"Wha- No! You are lying for sure! Why would you like this, just because you died?" the diamond exclaimed, turning around in the pirate's grip.

He chuckled, admitting his weakness "Because, I'm really cold all the time and you, my friend, are a source of  _warmth_. I'm like a vampire, just that I crave warmth, instead of blood. Now,  _come here_!" He pulled at the younger boy, making him shift even closer. To his surprise, Steven didn't seem to enjoy being manhandled like that and swatted his arm away. Instead, it was himself, who was being held. After being put off for a few seconds, he accepted his fate and let himself be pressed closer into the other boy.  _This was awesome_. It was awfully embarrassing, but no one was there to witness it anyway. So he could enjoy having a warm body enveloping him. He noted happily, that the diamond fell asleep after only a few minutes- this was a win-win situation! Now, he also allowed himself to fall asleep, dreaming of pink nothingness.

~~The next day~~

When he awoke, he was startled for a few moments, not comprehending where he was. Eventually though he realized, that his back was pressed into Steven- they were  _spooning_. Immediately, he blushed. It only worsened, when he noticed a hand drawing circles into his stomach and stroking it once in a while. The diamond must have been awake already, then. Why was he doing this? It didn't seem like a thing, friends were  _supposed_ to do. And that's all they really were: best friends! He liked the gem a lot, but he didn't feel  _love_ for him in that way. He didn't cast aside the possibility of it happening, but now it wasn't! They had become close like this only recently after all. Before his death, he had even found the other boy to be extremely annoying at times! Still, being patted like that almost made his dead heart beat again. 

"You are awake," the diamond noted. He had felt the other boy tensing up out of nowhere. He was probably a bit upset at his administrations. But he could not help it! It had been too tempting to touch the other- and really, he hadn't done anything  _inappropriate_!  So, he could still play it off as platonic cuddling! 

"Y-Yes?" the zombie said, unsure of the situation. Should he have said something? 

The diamond hugged him closer for a short while, before letting go completely. "Good! We, or rather I have lots to do today. But you can attend, if you want to. That is, if you still want to stay here at all... Uh, and thanks again for staying with me tonight. It really did help me a lot. I actually had some sleep!" he went on to tell Lars. Next he stood up and began dressing himself. 

Was he asking, whether he still accepted the offer? He guessed, he did. It had been only supposed to cheer his friend up, but it had not been a lie. Staying here was mainly positive. He would be close to his best  ~~and only~~ friend and also get some fame out of it. He would restore peace with earth and in turn save his home. Also, the diamond would get super happy at him being there. The downside however was also rather big. He would  _enslave_ himself. Well, maybe that was a bit exaggerated. He would promise to stay loyal to Homeworld and obey the diamonds, especially Steven. And really, he was already owned by him anyway... Also, disagreeing would probably end his life. Not directly through Steven, but indirectly through a breaking of peace and therefore war. There was only one choice, which was responsible to make! He would have to sacrifice himself for his loved ones, even if they did not care about him. He couldn't become like  _them_. 

Finally, the zombie declared "I told you, I agree to your offer! A-And I'm not taking it back that easily!" 

Steven went up to his friend, who was still sitting on his bed. He didn't like, that he was averting his eyes, while saying that. It seemed a bit dishonest. He extended his hand and lifted Lars' head by his chin with it. "Are you sure? You can still opt-out of this now, but once you make it public, you can't," he reminded.

"Theoretically speaking, what would happen if I tried to break my promise?" he asked. 

"...You would be punished for your disobedience. The punishment will differ of course, if your  _failure_ isn't that big. But if you were to completely become disloyal... you would be killed for sure. But why would you disobey? You won't get tasks, you wouldn't want to fulfill anyway as an ambassador. You won't be some kind of secret spy or assassin! You are...  _a politician_!  So don't worry about that!" Steven smiled at him. 

That didn't sound so bad! Steven wouldn't  _lie_ to him, would he? "Ok, then. Let's make it official! I trust you in this, Steven. Please don't make me loose my faith in you by abusing your power over me, ok?  I don't want to become a mindless zombie..." he pleaded however. 

The gem hugged him again to convince him. "I won't! Thank you so much- you don't know, how much this helps me, Earth and Homeworld! I was so scared, you'd say no! Now, let me do some preparations. You can wander around Homeworld or stay here, if you want. I will find you anywhere. I'll get you later, so you can officially agree to it! And don't worry, you don't need to hold a speech or something- you'll only have to consent and stuff. Now, uh, I really got to go; It's a bit late already. Make yourself at home, ok?" the diamond excitedly told his friend, before rushing out of the door and leaving him behind.

Hopefully, this had been the right decision. 


	5. Making it official

He was quite anxious. Not really feeling like going out, he had stayed in the diamond's bed. It smelled entirely like him. He didn't know, how to feel about Steven anymore. He was his best friend, that much he knew. But later, he would also become  _his diamond_ ; some sort of  _master_ , he couldn't disobey. Then, there had been the hybrid's weird behavior this morning. His touches hadn't been platonic! What was going on? He could not even comprehend anymore, who he himself was! He was Lars, a zombie. But he also was a  _former_ pirate and rebel, who turned into an ambassador for Homeworld! His head was spinning. The only thing he managed to do, was to hug the blanket below and next to him.

Lucky for him, he was freed from his thoughts after a while. A pink gem came in, which looked just like a maid. And indeed, she was. He didn't know, what type of gem she was, but it screamed low rank. When she entered, she kind of looked very startled at finding him in the diamond's bed. She asked "What are you doing here? Are you allowed, to be in our diamond's private chamber?"

"Uh, yes I am. A-And I'm not doing much. I only think about stuff," he answered truthfully. Would she call the guards on him? That would be horrible.

Oh. This organic person must have peaked the diamond's interest then. He probably was his lover. Well, who was she to judge? But she had hoped her diamond would take someone more  _suitable,_ like a high ranked gem. It would be more prestigious, than this. But she understood the appeal. Their diamond was partly organic as well, so maybe he craved something familiar? Either way, she nodded and stated "Okay. I'm going to clean our diamond's room now, if it doesn't bother you. I'm deeply sorry for interrupting your thinking!"

Steven really lived like a king. He had housekeeping and everything! He could live like this as well now. He would never have to clean his room again! He shrugged his shoulders "It doesn't bother me and don't be sorry, it's alright!" She did the diamond bow to him, which kind of put him off. Wasn't this reserved for actual high ranked gems? Had he misunderstood? "Why are you bowing to me? I'm kind of new to this- isn't it only done for high ranked gems? You know I'm not a gem, right?" he inquired.

How adorable!  She interrupted her cleaning and exclaimed "Oh! Yes it is, but you are high ranked, even without a gem. Being our diamond's mate made you that!" This being was so very interesting. And so innocent as well!

He blushed "M-Mate? I'm not his husband or something! I'm only a friend!" Why did gems have to be this oblivious all the time? Just because he was spending time in the diamond's room, didn't automatically mean that!

"It's alright! You don't have to hide the truth. I will keep this secret of course, if it isn't to be made public. Being with our joyful Pink Diamond surely is a grand pleasure, but also brings many responsibilities and dangers. Still, my upmost congratulations at being granted this honor!" she giggled and resumed her work. Lars watched on with wide eyes. This was just awesome. Now, there would be rumors of him sleeping with Steven. She would not keep it secret anyway- no one would! He tried to explain her being wrong multiple times, but she just told him, their secret was safe with her. Eventually, he gave up and she left. 

Later, he had a visit by yet another gem. She looked very beautiful and wore extravagant clothes. It turned out, he had to change his outfit and she was a tailor. She explained it to him like this "As a member of Pink Diamond's court, you are  _required_ to display, who you belong to. Your skin is already pink, which is good! But your clothes have to go. You can't wear a black coat! So, you have to wear something, which is mainly pink. I know, that isn't very fashionable, though. So, I allowed myself to also incorporate white. This should send a positive sign- after all, you are a representative for Homeworld and not just for Pink Diamond! And as White Diamond is our supreme leader, she'll be happy to see you wear her color as well to show that." She smiled at him, while presenting her work to him.

He was kind of sad, he had to leave his clothes behind. He had really grown fond of them! But he understood the problem. Now, he wore white pants and a white shirt, but also a pink vest. On top of that, he wore a pink coat, which had a rather slim fit. It didn't even look that bad. Still, why did Steven have to be  _Pink_ Diamond? Why couldn't he be  _Black_ or  _Orange_ Diamond? He looked so girly... But at least he was a pretty girl! 

The fashion-gem controlled his outfit, but approved of her own creation. "I think, this will do! It's a look with a message; perfect!" she exclaimed. Soon, she left him as well and he could wonder about his future again. He would really do this, wouldn't he? He could run away still, if he wanted to. But he could not hurt his friend and destine earth to be eradicated, just because he was too prideful. He had to do this- and being Steven's slave, might not turn out to be so bad in the end. He wouldn't hurt him. Oh stars, what would his parents say? They would be pretty proud of him, he guessed. After all, he had scored a pretty neat job, despite failing school. He kind of missed them. But surely, he could visit them soon, when he had to go to earth. 

When Steven came to collect him, he momentarily felt like running away or fainting. But he did not and so they warped to somewhere else,  that felt quite familiar. They were in Pink Diamond's throne room, but there were three other thrones. He had known the others would come, but it still scared him. He found them pretty frightening with their height and power. Still, they kind of were his bosses now. Knowing he had to, he knelt down again. The fashionable gem from before had told him however, he could stand up and do the diamond-bow, once he had been given his new rank. Still, he couldn't meet the diamond's eyes, speak to them without being asked or address them  _wrong_. It was quite a lot and he was certain, he would mess up at one point. Anyway, everything was better than cowering on the floor, he guessed. He would have at least some dignity left.

He could hear more diamonds being warped in and the 'ceremony' began. There were even some witnesses present from every court. He felt a bit pressured, to be honest. White announced, why they were gathered there today and introduced him as a human from earth, who had been revived by PD and was a friend of his. Next came Steven himself and asked "Lars, do you swear to be loyal to the Diamond Authority and Homeworld? Do you promise, to serve us without question and face the consequences, if you fail?"

Without looking up, he said "I do." Well, now he just felt like he was at a wedding. He probably shouldn't think about stuff like that, when something serious happened...

"Then the Diamond Authority hereby pronounces you Homeworld's ambassador for Earth and grants you the rank of-", he went on to say. The zombie was excited- what kind of rank would he get? Steven had only told him, it would be special. He had some knowledge of the hierarchy, but not much. Still, if he shouted 'Pearl', he would cry. Then, Steven would have betrayed his trust and he was lost. "- _Emerald_ ," the diamond pronounced.  Emerald?!  But that was  _really_ high! He didn't know the specifics, but he knew Emeralds were extremely rare like Sapphires. He had not expected this at all. He would have thought, he would be given a Ruby or Quartz rank- no this! Also, the irony didn't evade him either. His past foe surely would not approve of this, once she knew!

Despite being a bit shocked, he stood up and did the weird bow, while saying "Thank you, my diamond." The crowd seemed to be stunned quite a bit as well and most certainly were quite jealous. They couldn't be promoted like that! He was really happy, that he had trusted Steven like this. He knew, the gem-hybrid was inherently  _good_. It evaded him, how the Crystal Gems could not trust him anymore. 

With this settled, the other diamonds disappeared again, as well as their other gems. Only Pink Diamond, he and a few of their's were left. What would they do now? He wanted to ask almost, but remembered, that they were in public. "Permission to speak, my diamond?" he inquired, which made Steven rather happy. He had feared, that his zombie wouldn't follow the rules and needed to be  _disciplined_. 

"Of course!", the Pink Diamond laughed at him. 

"First of: Really, thank you for this! I would have never anticipated, that you would give me such a high rank. I mean, isn't this as special as a Sapphire? Also, what are we going to do now?" he smiled, but kept looking from the diamond. 

He thought he'd get any less? Lars was a very  _special_ friend, so of course he'd get a very special rank! "Yes, it is very high. In fact, there is no other rank in between me and you. Had I been able to, I would have made you a diamond~ but you know, that I can't. I really had to argue a lot with the others to achieve this for you, but I convinced them. In my opinion, you deserve nothing less. Your job will be quite hard and once it ends, you'll surely get other important duties. Also, you already outwitted an Emerald on your own! And, you are my best friend!" he praised his pink friend. He saw Lars stealing a forbidden glance at him, but he let it pass and just grinned at him. Then, he went on to say "I promised you, you could watch me work, if you wanted and the offer still stands. If you want to, you can come  _over here_!"

"T-To your throne? But my diamond, is that appropriate...?" Lars said in shock. 

Steven giggled "Well, now it is, because I declare it to be! You can be my assistant for a while, until the warp-pad on earth is restored! I don't have a Pearl right now, so you might come in handy. That isn't really appropriate for your rank, but it'll keep you busy. Also, you'll need info on what I do here daily, so you can convince our mutual friends easier!" He was careful not to order his friend. He could, but he didn't want to hurt him like that. He would do it in the future, when he had become more accustomed to  _everything_. 

Uncertain, the  _ambassador_  climbed the steps to Steven's throne. This was somehow rather exciting to him- a gem would feel similar perhaps. Were they in private, this would not be a big thing. But they were in public, so this was just  _unheard of_. And it only proved to him again, that he could trust his friend. At first, he wanted to stand besides the glorified chair, but the diamond pulled at him and sat him on top of his armrest. "M-My diamond...!" he squeaked. Well, this wasn't proper for sure! 

"It's okay! Don't let it get to your head, though... I really like your new outfit, by the way. Not, that I didn't like the old one of course!" Pink Diamond teased him.

Why was he praising him like this? It made him feel all warm inside. "Why, thank you!" he exclaimed, while becoming a darker shade of pink.

"I don't think though, that the clothes matter. The person inside of them is, what counts. Not every man could pull off pink,  _like you do_ ~," the younger boy went on.

Was Steven flirting with him? It only made sense, regarding his other weird behavior. But where was this coming from? He had never been like that! Wait...well, Steven  _had_ complimented him on his food and he had always clung to him like mad. Had he just not seen it? Or even ignored it? But he didn't love Steven! They were only friends! Still, the compliments  _did_ make him quite giddy inside. Oh stars... He thanked the diamond again, blushing even more. 


	6. First day at work

Watching Steven had been very interesting! His job was kind of neat, to be honest. The main thing he had to do, was making decisions and look mighty. He himself often kept sitting on the edge of his throne and served as pretty decor. Now and then, Steven would send him to go get something or give his opinion. When he wasn't at Steven's side, he was being trained to fight with a sword. Even as an ambassador, he shouldn't be extremely helpless and they had had like two weeks to spare anyway. The warp-pads on earth needed to be secured and repaired, which proved rather difficult. Every time they had finished working on them, they had been  _mysteriously_  destroyed again. After two weeks of this, Pink Diamond had enough. When a message came of another destruction, he told Lars "I can't believe it! We've done this twenty times already; this has to stop! Lars, please go to White Diamond and tell her to send troops. They will hopefully deter the Crystal Gems with their presence."

"T-Troops?" he squeaked. However, he was scolded by Steven for speaking without permission by being slapped on the thigh. It did hurt somewhat, the diamond was pretty strong after all. "I-I'm sorry, my diamond! Permission to speak?" he whimpered at being hit. It was kind of just, he  _had_ broken the law just then. Still, it  _burned_. When the gem nodded, he asked "Why troops? Can't I just fly there? It seems inefficient."

His friend shook his head "You can't. It would take too long in case of emergency and I don't want to send too many gems to Beach City itself. The soldiers won't do anything. They just have to look threatening and they won't actually hurt anyone. If they are attacked, they'll only poof their foe. Don't worry about it. It isn't your job to do so. And-," the diamond leaned in closer to him to whisper "-sorry for hitting you, but I had to do  _something_. Be more careful in the future, yes? I don't want to do anything more...  _severe_." With that, he leaned back again and stroked over the spot, he had hit prior. 

The ambassador blushed again at that, Steven had become really  _affectionate_. He was caressing, embracing and pulling at him all day! Trying to escape he noted "Well, I better go to White Diamond then! Goodbye, my diamond!" and did the diamond bow, before walking away. The diamond only made his confusion worse! Increasingly, he grew fond of him in other ways. The line between friendship and love became blurrier with every day and he did not know, whether that was good or not! Perhaps he only felt that way, because the diamond owned him even and those weren't his true feelings. But being held close at night by him felt so  _right_! He was a total mess. He had given up on his dignity and will to  _not_ submit by now, but he couldn't loose himself completely! In his ranting, he had not even noticed, that he was already at White's palace. 

He stated his purpose to the guards, who bowed to him. Any gem below his rank had to, but it upset him more than anything. If he could, he would tell them to stop. They didn't  _need to_. But he couldn't, so he went inside to White's throne room. The palaces were all pretty similar in how they were build, so he knew where it was without having been there before. He had met Yellow and Blue already, but not White. Her court was rather empty as well. Almost no gems were to be seen, because she'd rather stay alone. Two Pearls opened the door leading to the room for him- White had a plethora of them. As far as he understood, she owned every last one of them, but gifted them away to friends or gems, who had achieved something. Steven was still waiting for his. Perhaps she didn't fully accept him yet and that's why? Either way, he went inside and up to her throne, before doing his bow and explaining "White Diamond, _my_ diamond send me to deliver a message."

"Did he now? What would that message be, hm?" she cooed. He liked her voice- it kind of reminded him of his grandmother; it was very soft and warm, generally friendly. "Why thank you for thinking that!" she added. What? How did she- "I can read your mind, dear. Didn't your diamond tell you? I can read anyone's mind, who has some gem in them. It works better with low ranked, pure gems however. My sisters and especially your diamond are a mystery to me, I must admit. Now, the message?" she laughed at him. This was scary! She giggled again.

"Uuh... He asks you to send troops to the Galaxy Warp on earth. The Crystal Gems seem to be destroying it again and again and the troops should deter them with their presence alone," he explained, hoping he didn't mess up or something after what happened before. 

She nodded thoughtfully "I'll give him those soldiers, if he wants them. I still don't get, why he's trying so very hard to safe that planet. It would be far easier to just destroy it for good- oh don't worry, we won't. **Tell** **me** , why do you two cling so much to it?"

He felt kind of weird again, like that one time Steven had ordered him to jump and he did. "Because it is our home and our friends live there! If you destroyed it, they would all die! It would be like when you thought, you had lost Pink Diamond. It would be horrible!" he tried to explain. He loved Earth and his friends. 

"Hm... but your home now is Homeworld. Your love should lie there, not with Earth! Also, your friends are a danger to us; don't forget that. You can't trust them, regardless of what they say. Most of them are traitors. You don't want to become one of them, do you?" she warned. She leaned down to threaten him, which resulted in her face being directly in front of him. He wanted to look away, but she brought up her hand to make him look up to her. If she wanted to, she could probably kill him easily. 

He began stammering "O-Of course my loyalty lies here, White Diamond! I would never dare think of betraying you! I would always choose you over them..." He felt like a bunny about to be eaten by a wolf. Anxiety crept into his heart- would she believe him? He wouldn't betray his diamond, his only friend! How had he managed to mess up this bad? Steven would punish him, if he even survived this-

She stroked over his cheek with her thumb and assured him "I was only toying with you; I know you are loyal. You're a real cutie, hm? I know now, why Pink is so keen on having you at his side. Go and report back to him now. All your anxious thinking made me exhausted!" She giggled once more, brushing through his hair, before letting him go completely.

"T-Thank you, White Diamond," he told her, bowed and left as fast as possible. He liked her, but she frightened him just like the other diamonds did. He preferred his own diamond, who didn't behave or look as scary. He heard chuckling behind him again and he sped up his walking. Hopefully, her power was restricted to a certain radius. He more or less jogged back to his court, wanting to get away faster. When he went inside, he exhaustedly did the bow yet again and fled to the security of Pink Diamond's throne. 

"And?" the diamond expectantly asked. Why was Lars looking so stressed and flustered?

"She said yes and then she decided to scare me for fun. Also, she can read _minds_?!" he answered truthfully.

Typical. She had pulled his leg more than once as well. "Oh. I forgot to tell you, because it isn't a problem for me. As I'm high ranked and a hybrid, she can't hear anything. But you are lower ranked and have a lot of gem magic in you to keep you up and running. Don't worry though, she likes you probably. Otherwise, she would not have told you, she was only joking. You've done well!" his friend exclaimed. 

Their conversation stopped, as Steven needed to work a little again and discuss various matters with gems. After some time however, no one was coming. "Permission to speak more?" Lars asked. Like hell he would risk getting slapped again! Steven agreed and he inquired "So, if the warp-pads are restored, I'll go to Earth immediately? Can I visit our other friends there, as well?" He really missed some of them and they had a right to know, what was going on. Also, the warp-pads must have been repaired any minute now.

"Yes, but: You'll have to do your work first. You don't need to convince the CG's in one day, but you are  **forbidden** from wasting time by meeting friends. You can meet them, once you have time to spare for some reason or another. Also, refrain from attacking them. That should be obvious, however. And, if they ask to come here,  **decline**. It's simply to risky. Lastly, here-" he ordered, while giving him some sort of pink, hyper-modern tablet "Keep us informed with that. If I don't hear from you once in a day, I'll get worried and send someone to get you."

That was a lot. But he should manage! Hopefully, he would have some free time. He really wanted to meet his friends... "I will do so, my diamond. I promise to not disappoint," he swore. He shoved the tablet into his hair- it had become his main place to store stuff. In there were also a sword and a beacon, which would alarm Homeworld once activated, that he needed help. Steven pulled at him, making him fall into his lap and be hugged. He had become more or less accustomed to Steven's need to touch him by now, but this was new.

"I know you will. Still, be careful. I don't want to revive you again!" he told him as some sort of goodbye. He would miss his friend and there was no knowing, how long he would be gone. He had asked all their Sapphires, whether he would be safe, because he worried that much. They had assured him, that he would, but he could not fully believe them. They  _could_ be wrong. He held his zombie in his arms and the other returned the hug. Perhaps this would be the last time, they'd see each other! 

Lars chuckled, despite being a bit taken aback at sitting on the diamond's lap "I will be careful. I'm sure, that it'll work out! I'll miss you though, my diamond..." And he really would. He felt kind of bad for leaving him alone. Sleeping would be hard again for the gem, stressing him out and making him tired. He might also become lonely again and he was surely sad, he couldn't visit earth as well. 

What if he really would never see Lars again? Perhaps he would decide, he'd rather stay on earth! He had done his best to make the ambassador feel welcome and happy here, but maybe he had failed. But he couldn't bring himself to order the other, so he would come back for sure. He loved Lars and didn't want to force him completely. A gem came in, which he recognized as one of White's soldiers, that had been send. As assumed, it stated "Pink Diamond! The warp-pad has been repaired and we are guarding it. The undead-one may now use it!"

"Thank you," Steven only uttered. This was it. This meant, Lars had to go and that they could establish a real peace with earth. He let go of his friend, who looked and smiled at him. He had to do  _something_. He had to show him, that he  _needed_ him to come back unhurt. Not just, because he was a useful tool, but  _so much more_. "I'm sorry," he murmured and he saw, Lars wanted to ask, what he meant. He ignored it and let one hand slide to the back of the zombie's neck, pulling him closer. When he saw the face of utter confusion, he almost wanted to stop, but decided against it. If Lars died or vanished, he would have at least done  _this_. He leaned in and kissed Lars. The latter took in a surprised breath and lay his hand onto his chest. He felt slight pressure for a second, but then the hand slipped down again and Lars returned the kiss. The hand from before was now grasping at his shirt and he took it as a sign to deepen the kiss more, pressing Lars into the throne. He only mewled at that and tried to drag him closer as well. Still, Steven was sadly human in part and needed air, so he had to let go. In shame, he hid his face in Lars' chest. He knew, that his court must have been pretty shocked, but could not begin to care. They wouldn't dare to question him anyway.

He had been so shocked- he couldn't even decide, how to react at first. He should have guessed, this was coming. He wanted to push away the diamond at first, but couldn't for multiple reasons: He would certainly be offed for disobedience, Steven was far stronger than him and he _kind_ _of_ liked it... When his best friend pressed him into the throne, he became  _really_ interested. To his shame, he was kind of into the whole forced submission. When it was over though and the diamond only hid himself, he became rather worried. "My diamond, what's wrong?" he whispered, so no one would hear him breaking that awful rule again. 

"I love you and you don't love me back, that's the problem. And now, you are going to Earth and will probably betray us, because you don't want to see me anymore...I'm sorry," the diamond murmured back in return. No use in keeping it secret. 

He loved him? He had guessed something like that was the case, but hearing it... But none of what he said was true! He started caressing the gem's back to comfort him, while promising him "How would you know; are you White Diamond or a Sapphire? I like you a lot, my diamond. Did you think, I would have stayed here at all, if I did not? I don't know, if I love you, but I'm almost certain. I just need some time to think about it. But I am  _sure_ , that I will in fact not betray you and the Diamond Authority."

The diamond looked up at that in shock. "You really mean that? Lars... thank you," he smiled. Now that he had his head up, he could see, that most of the gems in the room had stopped doing anything and were watching on in interest. The rumors had been true after all! Angrily, he waved them away and they hurriedly assumed their work. "Now... You really have to go. Perhaps when you get back, you know for sure? I won't bug you about it until then, I promise," he added in sadness. 

The ambassador returned his smile and kissed him on the cheek, before wishing him farewell. While he stayed on earth, he should have enough time to think about it. He would miss his  _friend_ , however. He walked of and let the soldier from before accompany him to Homeworld's galaxy warp.


	7. Coming Home

After he had changed warp-pads at the Earth's Galaxy Warp, he found himself inside Steven's home. On Earth, it was currently 1 pm, but no one seemed to be around. Well, Steven's  _home_ really was nothing more than a piece of trash anyway. It had been destroyed in their fight with Yellow and Blue and no one had bothered to build it again. It had only been pushed to the side, so one could enter the temple and access the warp-pad. He felt rather angry at that. Had they completely given up on their leader, just like that? He went up to the magical door and knocked loudly against it, but no one came. His diamond had told him, that they weren't home in that case and he should search elsewhere. He watched around a bit nevertheless. He saw lots of Steven's things scattered around and broken. His consoles for example had been impaled by a wooden bar, so had been his bed. It was simply sad to see it go to waste. One of the only intact things he saw, was a 'Crying Breakfast Friends!' plushy. He recognized it to be Sad Waffle, as he had watched the show himself, when he was younger. Glancing around, he quickly jumped between the rubbish to get it. His diamond would be pretty thankful for getting at least something back! He had told him, that he had no stuffed companion back on Homeworld and he needed something to hold onto, so he could sleep. This would help him for sure.

He walked along the Beach, hoping at least one gem would be seen. But there was no one. However, the closer he got to the city itself, the louder he could hear music. When he rounded a corner, he knew why. Beach City's stage had been set up on the sand and a banner on it read 'Beach-a-Palooza’. Oh stars. He had come at exactly the worst time possible, it seemed.  _Everyone_ was there! Everyone, but the gems he searched! And he  _had_ to go past there to get to town and search there. He decided to search for Greg or Connie at that godawful festival instead. They were most likely to know, where the Crystal Gems had went and he would be seen by others anyway. He would have to brush them of nicely though, he wasn't _allowed_ to talk to them yet and waste time! That was near impossible, though! Annoyed at being delayed  _already_ , he hid behind a rock and got the tablet out of his hair to phone his friend.

The gem looked pretty surprised at him, when he answered the call "... Is something wrong? I told you to contact me of course, but this seems a bit early!"

He gripped at his own hair in frustration "My diamond, we have a problem. The Beach-A-Palooza is taking place right now and I can't get past it without being seen! I-I'll **have** to disobey you- I can't just brush my friends and  _parents_ off! They'll just follow me around! Also, some of them might know, where the rebels are. I couldn't find them at the temple. I'm sorry..."

"Oh. You don't have to apologize. You may spend  _some_ time with them- but not too much! This wasn't part of the original plan, but I understand, that my order is impossible to carry out," the diamond reassured him. 

Lars grinned at him "Thank you, my diamond. Also, I found something nice for you!" He smiled and pulled the waffle out of his head, at which Steven gasped.

"Sad Waffle! I love you _-"_  he blurted out, but quickly said _"_ S-sorry...I know, I promised not to talk about it. Anyways, resume your work now, my ambassador!" Steven winked at him, making him blush for the millionth time. 

He nodded and his diamond ended the call. Now, he only had to go to that party and greet half of Beach City. He left his hiding-spot and approached the crowd. It seemed like Sadie was on stage with her band right now- _just awesome_. Immediately, she saw him and screamed into the microphone in shock, which made  _everyone_ aware of his presence. She broke of her performance and announced "Lars! You're home!", before letting the microphone fall and running up to him. Many of his other friends and family approached as well. Others did not even care. His  _former_ best friend came closer and threw herself at him, before letting go, so his parents could as well. "I can't believe you're here. I thought, you would be gone for another few months! Did you repair your ship?" she asked.

Before he could even answer, his mom added "Laramie, we are so relieved, you are here! We missed you so much and we were so worried, when we were told of your death. Are you alright? Where is your crew? A-And honey, you have to know; Steven isn't here anymore, he-"

"-He's on Homeworld, I know. I've been there actually. And no Sadie, I did not repair my ship. We wanted to and tried to steal from Yellow Diamond's colony, but it was a trap. I was captured and my crew was poofed, before we were taken to Homeworld," he interrupted her. More people gathered around them, listening to what he had to say. They were all pretty uncertain- Steven had vanished and no one knew, what would happen next. The mayor and the Crystal Gems had even made emergency plans and everything!

Suddenly, Greg pushed himself forward through the crowd. "You've been to Homeworld?! How is Steven doing a-and how did you escape? I haven't heard from my little man in weeks! Is it true, that he betrayed us?" he pleaded to be told. He was worried sick! When the CG's had informed him, Steven had joined the diamonds, he almost had had a heart-attack. Why would he ever do that? It would doom all of them!

"Yes, I've been there. My diamond- uh,  _Steven_ is doing pretty well! He did not betray any of you, as he joined the Diamond Authority to help Earth! I did not have to escape at all, though. I joined them as well and they have send me here to be their representative," he summarized for him. 

Greg couldn't believe it! "Y-You  _joined_ them?" he had to ask again, at which the zombie nodded. He did not know, who to believe...

His mom intervened "Sorry Greg, but Steven doesn't matter now- Laramie is back and that's important now! L-Let's go home, honey! We have so much to talk about!" Mrs. Barriga took her son's hand, intending to pull him away from everyone else. They could speak later to him!

He shook his head and stood his ground. "No, mom. My diamond is _all_ , that matters. And I can't come with you, as I need to speak to the Crystal Gems first," he told them. He hated breaking their hearts, but he had no choice. He had  _orders_. Afterwards, he pried her hands of.

Dante got angry and sad at once "What are you talking about? Of course, you are coming with us- you are our son! You can't just say no."

He ignored him for a moment and turned towards Greg "Where are they? It's urgent, Mr. Universe. I have to negotiate with them or else, something might go wrong and the peace treaty with Homeworld will break. The rebels were already quite aggressive towards us and our diamonds won't tolerate much more." 

Should he tell the boy? What if he lied? Perhaps he wanted to hurt the others. Still, he seemed to be friendly and trustworthy. "I-I don't know, if I should tell you, kiddo...," he expressed his uncertainty.

"Your cooperation is vital. If I have to ask Homeworld's Sapphires, it will only worsen your image. So please, where are they? If you need more convincing: If this fails, Homeworld will either invade or obliterate Earth. Both will end in your certain death," he said neutrally. He had no intention of scaring him and the others, but this was the truth. Some of the citizens began whispering to each other and some demanded, that Greg should tell him. 

"Okay, okay! They are at Connie's place. They are planning something, I think," he admitted. Oh stars, hopefully this had been the right choice. But what could Laramie even do? He was only a teenager.

The latter thanked him, before asking "Could you bring me there? I mean, you are part of the rebels as well. You should be there, when we discuss matters." Greg reluctantly agreed. Perhaps he'd get a chance to meet his son? Lars must have had some connection to Homeworld, they could use. 

Dante shouted "Greg! D-Don't help him! He's confused- Don't take him away from us, just when we got him back! I-I... Take us with you at least!" How could they do this to them?

The zombie became increasingly annoyed. He wished, his diamond was there to help him. He had to agree, as they would just follow them anyway. Greg led them to his truck and somehow found a place for everyone in the back to sit on the floor. It was weird to Lars, that he had to face his parents. He'd be stuck there for at least twenty minutes. He pulled out the tablet from his head, which made his parents almost faint. He entered a quick report, so Steven would know, he was alright. He was very lucky, he had started learning the gem-language way back on his journey with his crew. Otherwise, he would have had no idea, where to even enter his report, as all buttons were in said language. But either way, he wrote in English- he wasn't  _that_ good yet. After typing it in, he let it vanish again and instead pulled out his sword to put it on his back. He'd rather not have to fish around in his hair, if things got messy. The sword was beautiful. It was a katana-type sword with a black blade and hilt, which had little diamonds engraved everywhere. He still had to learn a lot, but he could definitely deal some damage. He had already won against countless Rubies, who had been unfortunate enough to be used for his training. But he hadn't just started training yesterday anyway. His crew had thought him and when he had been friends with Ronaldo, he had too. 

"S-Sweetie, what are you planning with that sword? You don't want to hurt your friends, do you?" his mom stammered. Her son had gone mad!

He smiled at her "No... I'll only use it, if I'm attacked first. My diamond would punish me, if I did otherwise. And they aren't my  _friends_. I don't want to be friends with anyone, who hurt him without reason!" 

His dad seriously frowned now. He didn't understand, what was going on and it unnerved him. "Son, what is all this diamond stuff about? W-Why are you dressed like that and just-  _everything_! What is going on?" he became louder again, making Greg flinch.

He might as well try to explain, while they did not have anything to do. " Steven is a diamond and so one of the four,  _grand_ leaders of Homeworld and their colonies.  He owns me. He did ever since he revived me and I willingly accepted it again two weeks ago. I swore to serve him and there is no going back. But I also follow the other diamonds, as I am loyal to all of Homeworld and her people and am their ambassador for Earth. I wear this, to show that. The pink color represents my diamond and the other color Homeworld and White Diamond," he gave his best to elaborate that. 

His mom looked at her husband in concern, before concluding "You are his slave?! Honey, we have to ask the Crystal Gems to help you! We can surely rescue you from them; you aren't alone in this!" Greg went on to support her idea.

"It's not like that. I don't want to be helped, as I am pretty proud to be his. I trust him not to abuse his power over me and he has not given me a reason to think otherwise. See, if dad owned you, you wouldn't care either. And also if I did not do this, Earth wouldn't stand a chance. I'm doing this to help  _you,"_ he brushed her off. With that, his mom began weeping. Why? "Mom... it's alright, I promise! I'm happy like this. Aren't you proud, that I'm finally taking something serious and have a _real_ job? This is better than being home and failing school!" he tried to convince her. She shook her head and he crawled over to her, so he could embrace her. 

"A-Anything would be better, than having you taken away, Laramie! I want you to stay home with us and live a normal life- not  _this_!" she cried harder. This was unfair! Why did her child have to do this? They had lost so much already...

Before he could try to comfort her better, he heard a sound-  _from his head_. He pulled out the tablet yet again, while sitting next to his parents. To his surprise, it was Yellow Diamond who called. He sat the tablet down on his legs, so he could do the bow awkwardly. Yellow looked a bit distressed as far as he could tell. She ordered "Ambassador!  **Don't** let those rebels come to Homeworld. Blue's Sapphires have just foretold, that the rebels are working on plans to  _shatter_ us. Whatever you do, **ignore** every request or threat of them to come here! They will abuse your trust to assassinate us one after the other. If you disobey, I will _personally_ see to your execution!"

His eyes went wide "Permission to speak?" he asked. After being granted that, he wanted to know "But how can I negotiate with them now, if they are already doing that?"

"I don't know and I don't care! Either you get this done and Pink is happy or you don't, you'll be punished and Earth will be colonized for good. It doesn't matter to me. Now, **do** as I told you! I have more important duties to attend to,  _Emerald_ ," she explained to him in annoyance and hung up. He swallowed and put the tablet back. Well, this won't make things harder at all...

"What the- son, who was that? Are you sure, you are happy? She just threatened you!" his dad asked.

"Yellow Diamond. She did, but it doesn't matter. I will get this done; I'll just have to be a bit careful and so there won't be any execution, dad. Really, the punishments weren't that bad as of yet. I've been slapped like  _once_ and it was my own fault. Don't worry!" he played it down. He'd best shut up about all of this now, they wouldn't listen anyway and they would arrive shortly.

 


	8. Betrayal

Knocking at Connies door was weird. When she opened, she smiled at first and the frowned. "What are you doing here? When did you come back?" she asked in confusion, but Garnet stepped up behind her. She told the girl, that it would be okay to let him in and he would explain himself there. Lars momentarily wondered, why she was so relaxed, but then remembered her being a Sapphire-fusion. He entered without saying a word, but was weary of being attacked. The other humans followed him as well. Connie led them to their living room, where they sat down on the couch and chairs.

Garnet began breaking the ice "So, you've really come, hm? When I saw that future, I almost didn't believe it!"

He nodded in agreement and told his story again, of how he joined Homeworld. "Now, you probably can guess, why I am here. I want to secure our peace treaty, before it breaks altogether," he added.

Pearl laughed hysterically "Peace? There is  _none_! Steven betrayed us and White send her troops to the Galaxy Warp!" To her, it was already over. They would need to commence their war and shatter the diamonds  _for real_. She had lost all trust in Pink Diamond.

"He did not betray you. He simply chose an option, you were too prideful to make. Don't fool yourself, I know, what you are planning and it is simply  _disgusting_! You can't orphan a whole civilization by killing their leaders! My diamond's way is far better and pacifistic! He will use his influence to obtain organic planets and secure them. Your way will lead to countless deaths and won't safe organic planets in the long run," he angrily pointed out. How delusional could they possibly be?

She shook her head "Do you believe everything they tell you? You're are just so naive- you even call him your diamond! You are pretty convinced, he is your friend, right? Well, wait until he starts ordering you around, abusing your trust! You are nothing, but a lowlife Pearl to him! He might take those planets, but he'll use them for resources as well in the end! Homeworld is so short on them, they can't just leave out those planets for colonization!" She absolutely ignored Amethyst, who wanted to say something as well.

What was she even talking about? All her ideas were plain wrong or idiotic. "Yes, I do, as  _I_ am loyal to them. And I'm not a Pearl, like  _you_. If you have to know, I was granted the rank of an Emerald. My diamond is even more than  _just a friend_ to me and I know for a fact, he sees me like that as well. You are only jealous, because you were  _discarded_  by Pink, once she met someone slightly better. And yes, he will get resources from the planets-  _by trading_! We have so much  _waste_ , we don't need, but others find useful! Also, White Diamond lowered gem production on Homeworld, so our lack of materials isn't that high. And even if, we could just  _harvest_ gems or move on to era 3," he laughed at her ridiculous argumentation. Perhaps being an ambassador wouldn't bet that hard after all. 

Pearl wanted to attack him, but Garnet knew and pushed her back into the couch. Fighting would not help anyone. If they attacked Lars, Homeworld would declare war on them right away. She didn't want that. Still, she noted "Even if he does that, he lets many things stay untouched. Were I on Homeworld, I would be shattered or worse and your crew as well! You have to see, that that is wrong! Also,  he doesn't even think about changing the caste-system!"

She was a little right there, still "The first two he actually  _does_ plan on changing once he has gained White's trust. Also, my crew  _is_ on Homeworld. They are safely bubbled away somewhere! And who even wants to change the system? I know,  _I don't_. Many of the gems love their diamonds and are loyal- they don't  _want_ to do anything else.  _They are happy_. You are literally the only ones, who want to change it! I mean, even the  _Pearls_ are glad to be, who they are. Have you ever seen, how proud Yellow Pearl is of her job? I don't see your problem! Hell, I would have served my diamond as a Pearl, if I had to! And just because of these few little things, you want to declare war on us and doom Earth? You could at least take another planet as your base, so we don't have to kill the humans on Earth as well! What is wrong with you?"

 _Shit_. Amethyst felt kind of convinced and  she didn't like it! She shouldn't agree with him! They had fought Homeworld for as long as she could remember! "Even  _if_ we agree to a permanent peace- what would happen to us? We are  _war criminals_. They won't welcome us with open arms back home!" she pointed out.

The zombie snorted "No, they won't. And do you want to know why? Because none of you will ever set foot there and nothing of this will be made public. You will stay  _here_ \- you love Earth, so it should not be a problem. You can just keep on living here in peace and we'll only drop by now and then to trade. Almost nothing will change!" What did they expect? A welcome party and congratulations for achieving  _nothing_? All they ever did was bring a child forth, which had to correct their mistakes!

Greg, who had silently watched on like the other humans, asked "But I can go there, right? I-I want to see my son!" He couldn't let Steven grow up alone in outer space! He was his only child...

Sadly, Lars patted his shoulder "No, you can't. You can thank your friends here, who made plans to shatter the diamonds for that. But perhaps, my diamond will pardon you from that. I can't promise you anything, however. He won't come here either as long as it is too dangerous. But I assure you he is happy, if a bit lonely." Mr. Universe rested his head in his hands. What had the Crystals done? Lars felt kind of bad about having to tell him this. 

Peridot, now an official CG as well, asked "So that's it? We literally don't have to do anything, but sit here and let the diamonds trade with us? It sounds kind of fishy- there  _must_ be a catch!"

"No, there is not. My diamond is still your friend, that's why! He put a lot of work into this and the other diamonds agreed to this so easily, because they simply had enough of you.  _They don't care about Earth_! It isn't their colony and they have enough other work. Also, they  _love_ Pink Diamond and don't want to loose him again, so they do a lot to keep him happy up there. Really, no one on Homeworld would even think of this dirt-ball, if my diamond hadn't come from here six weeks ago! They  _forgot_ about it. Just leave  _us_ alone!" he exclaimed. This was a once-in-a-lifetime deal! It was made like that, so they would agree without doubt and everyone could be happy. They were lucky, Steven still liked them or he might not have cared so much about any of this. 

Pearl intervened, as she saw the others slowly agreeing "No! It's morally wrong to agree! Rose would not have wanted this! She left Homeworld, because of-"

"-Because she was  _childish_ and  _immature!_ Because she was bored of her own colony after a few thousand years and wanted to  _play pretend_! She never cared about the caste system, or she would have freed you! She never cared for off-colors or fusions- it was just  _interesting_ to her, when she became  _bored_. And life? Why would she care for it! Gems are alive too! Still, she willingly brought war upon them and let them  _die_. You know who cares about these things, Pearl? My diamond,  _Steven_! But you are so in love with her, that you are blind to it! News flash- she never cared about you! She- She left you for a  _caveman_! It doesn't matter, what she wanted! She is dead and never made good decisions! Just accept it," he became enraged at her delusions. 

"And you think, he likes  _you_?!" she shouted.

He laughed at her " _Yes_ , because he always did. He liked me even before he knew of his identity. He is better than his poor excuse of a mother, either way!" She looked at him in utter dismay, before running outside. He counted that as a victory. The others kept sitting there in silence and he asked Garnet "So, do you agree to a permanent peace?"

She had to. Every other future was awful and this one seemed to be rather happy, honestly. She nodded. With having settled that, Lars documented the treaty on his fancy tablet, before sending it off. 

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement here. Not just for your, but also my sake! Maybe the Sapphires were right after all...," he smiled. This had been easier than expected. Well, the Sapphires had said, there was a  _very high_ chance of him succeeding. Amethyst then went on to excuse herself and started searching for Pearl, while Garnet just sat there, skipping through visions and searching for  _something_. There must have been at least one negative end to this! And if there was one, she would be prepared. She didn't even realize, what happened outside of her mind anymore.

Peridot went up to him and inquired "Will I be alright? I called Yellow Diamond a clod, you know? A-And I attacked her!"

"I'm sure, it'll be fine. I stole a ship from her and she didn't really remember it anymore. She's really busy most of the time. She definitely won't come here to punish you and I won't either. You aren't in my court, so I don't care," he shrugged. With that, she also went away, leaving Lars and the humans relatively alone. "I'm really sorry, that I had to rush you before. But I suppose you see now, why I had to? They were about to attack Homeworld, after all," he apologized. 

His dad smile a little unsure "I-It's alright, son. And we  _are_ proud of you. It's just- do you have to go back there right away? Can't you stay just a little?"

"I don't know- I'll have to ask for permission," he answered and went on to do just that. He pulled out his tablet and phoned his diamond. 

"Hey! I've seen the treaty! I can't believe, you've achieved it this fast! You have to tell me  _everything_! Uh, that isn't an order by the way, so don't take it literally! You can speak freely anyway, I'm in my room!" his friend chirped. He blushed at the praise again and told him, what happened. "You made Pearl cry? Oh...Please don't be mean to her!" he demanded. Pearl didn't deserve that!

"Yeah, sorry. There is a few other things. My parents wondered, if I could  _stay_ for a few days...," he carefully proposed. He didn't know, how Steven would react. They looked at him, wishing for the best.

After thinking about it shortly, he answered "Yeah, you can stay for three days or so, but then I need you back here! My sisters will want to hear your story as well. Also, you will return to earth now and again anyway, because you stay ambassador. There's more?"

"Y-Yes, your dad his here, you know? And Connie as well. Do you want to talk to them?" he asked for their sake. Please don't let him say no... But Steven agreed and he gave the tablet to Mr. Universe and Connie, so they could speak to him. In the meantime, he started chatting with his mom and dad for a while. After two hours or so, the call had ended and he packed away his tablet again. 

Dante proposed "How about we go to the festival again? You can meet your friends there!" And of course, he agreed. Garnet was still sitting on the couch, concentrating on her visions, but they just let her stay there. Greg and Connie also accompanied them and they went to the front door. He wondered, where Pearl and Amethyst had gone to. He kind of wanted to apologize for being a bit  _extreme_. The diamond would surely appreciate that. When they wanted to enter the van and drive of however, it wouldn't budge. Everyone got out of it again and they inspected the car. Nothing seemed to be amiss first of- not that the zombie would know. He had never cared for cars that much, so he only stood at the side and watched on. For good measure, he rounded the car and inspected it more closely. Beneath it, right next to a tire lay something shiny and purple-

A sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest. He clutched at it in panic and looked down- He had been  _stabbed_ by a  _spear_. Everyone began screaming all of a sudden, while he felt his consciousness drift away rapidly, as he sank to the floor. After only a few seconds, all became black.

 


	9. Recovery, War and Peace

When he awoke, he felt like utter garbage. Everything was hurting and he felt tired, despite having slept. Had he slept? He wasn't sure- but what else would he have done? He couldn't perceive his surroundings that well at first- it was, as if he was wrapped in a million blankets. It was dark, he couldn't move and barely hear. He felt kind of good, though. He was warm in some places, like his chest and abdomen. Hadn't he felt this before once? It felt familiar somehow. Had he...? But no, why would he have  _died_? Still, his suspicion only worsened, when his senses slowly returned and he could hear crying and begging. He had most definitely died, as he recognized the voice to be Steven's. Despite still being trapped in a haze of sleepiness, he tried to reach out for the one, he assumed to be Steven. He grasped  _something_ and and began feeling even warmer- the diamond had hugged him. "Lars? Please-" he heard. At that, he fought to get really awake and it even worked.

When he opened his eyes for real, he was completely disoriented. Where was he and what had happened? Hadn't he been on Earth? He saw Steven hugging him and having puffy eyes, that he was certain of. In an effort to console him, he embraced the other one and murmured "...'m okay."

"I'm so sorry, I should never have send you alone! T-This is all my fault! I was so scared- you didn't wake up as fast as last time, I thought-," the diamond broke of, crying harder. What if he had lost his zombie? He couldn't bear thinking about it. 

Very slowly, the ambassador tried sitting up and Steven even helped him. He looked around and to his shock, he lay in Connie's living room on the couch- "My diamond, what are you doing here! I-It isn't safe for you! We- We have to go!" he exclaimed, while trying to stand up and pull the ruler with him. If he had died here for some reason, they should not be here! 

Steven pushed him back onto the couch, though "I-It's okay. I have lots of guards with me and I can defend myself. The only thing, that matters now is you being safe and healthy!". He smiled at his friend, but still sniffled a little. The zombie then saw, that none of the rebels or humans were present, but about five Rose Quartzes guarded all entrances. Lars wiped the gem's tears away in relief, which made the diamond grin and lean his forehead against his. "I'm so glad, you are well. I don't know, what I would have done without you," he added. Lars however went one step further and sealed his lips with his own. He also was really glad, to have his diamond here and to be alive to witness it. 

Nevertheless, he had so many questions and let go again "My diamond,  _what happened_? I only remember going outside with the others- have they hurt me? But how would you have found me? D-Did you declare  _war_ on them?" he squeaked finally. He didn't want his friends and family to die-

Kissing him once more, Steven went on to explain as best as he could "Pearl killed you after she poofed Amethyst, because she had tried to stop her. After she did that, Garnet came to stop her, because she heard screams. She told me, she couldn't foresee this, because all the new possible futures overwhelmed her. When Connie and her poofed Pearl, they fished the tablet and beacon out of your hair- we are really lucky, it still works for a while, when you die. They phoned me a-and I was super lost. I had to get to you, but I couldn't leave normally. B-But in the end, I just took all my guards and told other gems to get even more and we teleported to one of the near warp-pads and then walked here. A-And then I revived you. I haven't declared war,  _yet_. I need to decide on that still. I mean, only  _Pearl_ did something... _I think_. I really don't know... I'll have to question the Sapphires and Padparadscha, but also the rebels. I'm just so glad, you are safe..."

They held each other for a while, not wanting to separate again. Every time they kissed, Lars felt some kind of weird pull on his entire being. After the third time, he asked "What is this- this  _pulling_? Do you feel that too?" Had the resurrection perhaps failed?

"Y-Yeah. If we wanted to, we could fuse, but I'm preventing it actively," he admitted, while brushing through Lars' hair.

He frowned "But why? Don't you want to fuse with me?" They were so close, they really should! He had always been jealous of Stevonnie...

Steven shook his head "It's not like that. But you know, it is forbidden on Homeworld and I need to be here  _myself_ to get through this mess. If we fused, it wouldn't help anyone. But-," he leaned in closer and whispered "-I promise you, that we will soon! Just not now." The ambassador thanked him at that and hugged him tight. He was really anticipating that now. Fusing with his diamond, who he  _loved_ , would be really beautiful, he assumed. And yes, he had admitted to himself, that he indeed had fallen in love with his ruler. The latter went on to say "Now, as much as I'd like to stay here like this forever, we have some  _traitors_ to deal with. They are currently outside and are being  _subdued_."

With all their guards, the couple went outside. Lars at first wanted to hold his hand, but the diamond declined and told him, he had to trail behind him. Doing as told, they went outside and into Connie's garden, where they had taken the others prisoner. Anything else would have been far too open. After all, Connie had lots of neighbors and they did not want them to call the police or something similar. It was really surreal to see his  _own family_ and friends sitting on the floor and being threatened with weapons and destabilizers. But either way, he felt rather betrayed, for having been killed. And he couldn't discern, whether that was only Pearl's idea or an elaborate plan to get his diamond here. When his diamond stood still, he assumed a position slightly behind him and a bit to the side, as was appropriate. Sounding very mighty and intimidating, the gem proclaimed "How dare you try to kill our ambassador, who wanted nothing, but peace! We made you a generous offer and you thank us by doing  _this_? You can be glad, I'm even speaking to you and not declaring war on you right away! How can any of you justify this, huh?"

The humans watched on in complete terror and didn't know, what to do. They hadn't done anything! Garnet began talking, as she was really the only one, who had not been poofed "S-Steven! We-!"

The diamond stepped in "Please address me correctly with 'Pink Diamond' or face the consequences" He didn't even care that much about it, but he had an image to keep up. He couldn't let them call him that without seeming inconsistent. 

"Okay then,  _Pink Diamond_. We didn't want any of this, Pearl just overreacted! Lars can confirm this- she was extremely upset and couldn't think clearly anymore! Why would I have accepted the treaty at all, if this was our plan?" she went on to say correctly. 

His mom went on to say "Yes honey! Y-You have to tell him! You must have seen so yourself, that it was her!"

But he didn't say anything, as he couldn't without permission. Instead, he only stood there and let his diamond proceed "So, what should I do with her then? Surely, you are willing to sacrifice her, if it was  _only_ her fault. Killing him was unforgivable- so her punishment will be shattering. But you should be fine with that!"  _Shattering_? Lars didn't want her to be killed!

Connie shouted "No! She did it, but she doesn't deserve that! Lars provoked her! It's his own fault. Also, you revived him, so there was no damage done!" She tried to fight the gem holding her in place in vain, as she was simply pressed down again.

"Even if he did, Pearl shouldn't have reacted like this! Also, I know you were already planning to come to Homeworld and shatter us four- why should I believe any of you? And your unwillingness to give her to us makes me only doubt more," he pointed out. He should have listened to Yellow, who told him to just eradicate the gems on Earth. He had almost lost Lars...

Mrs. Barriga tried again speaking to her son, who only looked upon the ground now "Laramie, please stop this madness! We will die, if you don't- please, we love you! You have to tell him the truth!" Why wasn't he reacting or doing anything to prevent this? This was about him, he should take part in the discussion!

Clenching his hands behind his back in helplessness, he pleaded "My diamond, permission to speak?" He had to! He didn't want them to be  _punished_ and killed, if they tried to free themselves or war was declared. He saw his parents cringing at him having to ask, but did not mind. It must have seemed rather weird. Steven agreed and seemed rather stressed out about everything. "My diamond, I don't want anyone to die or war to be declared! I-I know, I shouldn't worry about this, but I do! Even if I am deeply loyal to Homeworld, I can't just watch on, while you slaughter everyone and destroy  _our old_ home! I- I  _did_ provoke Pearl and I shouldn't have! I should have known, she would do something like this! I let my guard down- this is all my fault! I-," he began confessing.

"That's enough,  **stop _speaking_** ," he was interrupted by his diamond. "None of that justifies her wrongdoings,  _Emerald_. I will definitely still have to punish you for being  _disobedient_ , however. I told you to be careful and you were not! Instead, you aggravated her! Still, I will take your opinion into consideration. For now, we  _all_ will go back to Homeworld until I decide. Rose Quartzes,  **destablize** Garnet and take her with you. Bubble the others as well and bring the humans as well. They will be kept in  _my_ prison for now. Let's go, Lars. I've had enough of this...," he murmured the last part. Obediently he followed the diamond to the nearest warp-pad and they went back home. He was scared. Not just for the others, but himself as well. He surely would not only be  _slapped_ for this. 

~~~~

It hurt like hell- this was almost worse than being impaled. He wished he was a gem more than ever, so he could just poof and be done with it. The diamond had told him, he felt truly sorry for it, but he had to do it. He believed him. No way, Steven enjoyed him being hurt this much. He cursed in pain, as he was  _whipped_ for the fifth time now. Had he any, his back would be soaked in blood by now. An Amethyst was currently punishing him in a separate room; at least it had not been made public. His diamond didn't even watch on, too horrified at what he had to put Lars through. He still had to endure 15 more of those hits, before he would be let go. He had not anticipated this, but perhaps he should have. After all, he had messed up so bad, that he had  _died_ and Pink Diamond had had to come to his rescue, putting himself at risk.

The diamond had told him, he had wanted to do something less severe, but his sisters had adviced against it. His  _offense_ had been too drastic to let him go this easily. Lars had been utterly shocked, when he was told about his punishment. He had even fallen as low, as to beg Steven to not do it. The latter however had only kissed him and ordered him to be strong. He really hoped now, that the diamond would at least heal him right away and not torture him any longer by letting him run around with open wounds. Every time he had hurt himself in the past, healing either did not happen at all or very slowly, he had noticed. So he needed his friend to do it! After what felt like ages of pain, the Amethyst declared "Puh, we're finally done! Sorry, I really don't enjoy doing this, you know? You are quite lucky to be in our court, though. The others would have given you a few hundred of these or just shattered- uh,  _killed_ you right away."

He nodded and told her, that he didn't take her doing this personally. She was only doing her job, after all. It was even a rather small Amethyst, who wouldn't deal as much damage as the others, he observed. Steven had been relatively soft, it seemed. Despite the pain, he put on his shirt again, but not the rest. He went to the throne-room, but no one was there, so he searched in Steven's private rooms. Indeed, his diamond was present. He sadly hugged Sad Waffle right now on top of his bed, while looking at him like a puppy, that had been kicked.

"I'm so sorry, I had to do it, but I had to punish you! But I'll heal you at least! Come here, please!" he said, while looking all kinds of disturbed. Lars obliged and put his shirt away before laying on his stomach on the bed as well. He couldn't bear lying on his back, he knew. "That looks horrible!" the diamond exclaimed. The zombie's back was more or less  _ripped_ open! He then proceeded to place tons of kisses on his back- that would be more  _sanitary_ , than _licking_ it and also less weird. After a short while, all the wounds had closed, not even leaving a scar behind. The gem still kept caressing his back however, trying to show, how sorry he was. 

"What happens to the others now?" the zombie could not help, but to ask. He was scared for his friends.

The gem sighed, why did he have to ask that  _now_? "I don't know yet. We are still asking our Sapphires and we'll meet tomorrow again to discuss the matter. In the end it's my decision though. Don't let us speak of this now, though. I need some rest from it," he told his  _friend_. They had more private matters to discuss as well. He demanded to know in hope "Have you decided yet, whether you like me in  _that_ way? Again it is alright, if you don't. I won't punish you or anything; I'm no monster after all."

He began giggling, because it should have been obvious. "I have and I do love you,  _my diamond._ I really had thought, I made that clear by the way I kissed you before!" he smirked. Then he went on to turn onto his back and look at the other boy's reaction. The other only let himself fall on top of him to cuddle. 

"I love you, too. But you really don't have to call me that in private, Lars. I'm not your diamond here...," he pointed out however. 

As he encircled the other with his arms, he said "But you are and I like calling you that. You are  _my_ diamond and no one else's!"

The ruler only shook his head in amusement "I don't think, that's how it works. I own _you_ and not the other way around! You are  _mine_. I can do with you, what I want~!" He sat up a little and let his hands roam over Lars' upper body "Just look at you; you wear my colors so well and all over you. Your entire look screams, that you  _belong_ to me."

To the zombie's shame, he was really into Steven talking like that and he felt himself getting aroused slightly. The diamond had  _ruined_ him! He hadn't been this submissive before, but now he really did not want to be any different. He began touching the gem as well to distract himself. Carefully, he shoved up his shirt a little more to reveal his gem. "Can I touch it?" he asked insecurely. He knew, that this was a tad bit inappropriate and risky for the other. 

"Oh, my gem? Yes, but only because it's you and only in private, ok? My sisters are going to  _smite_ you, if they see you doing this," he consented. This was  _dangerous_. Lars could easily pull it out, but he trusted him not to. 

Being interested, he began poking and touching it. The diamond had turned his gem, he knew. He had seen, when Steven had dressed one morning and asked, why he had done so. He had told him, that he didn't want to be associated with Rose or the rebels anymore. It felt kind of cold like himself and very smooth. The gem above him didn't really react to him doing any of it, so he became a bit more bold. He started pulling very slightly and he could feel the diamond tensing and looking a little panicked.

"W-What are you doing? You're going to poof me!" he exclaimed, while holding the ambassadors hands still.

He started rubbing over it again and apologized "S-Sorry, I just wanted to see, what you would do. I'm not going to do that for real! And even if I did, I would take good care of you, I promise!" He saw the diamond relaxing again with a sigh and letting his hands go. 

After this momentary shock, he became bored and decided to tease his  _boyfriend_ more "You know, I should punish you for  _threatening_  me like that."

"What? But I didn't do anything!" Lars declined in mild shock, while letting go of the gem.  

In faux anger, he pointed out "You _just_ talked back to me- not very  _obedient_ , would you say? I think, I'll have to show you again just who is in power here." He climbed down from the zombie, sitting besides him on the bed. He ordered " **Turn around**!" and Lars did against his will, laying on his stomach again.

"W-What are _you_ doing?" he whimpered. He had thought, he didn't need to submit in private! Had he known, he would not have done that. His useless breathing quickened at his fear- what was he planning? Without getting an answer, he felt Steven shift around a little and then a sharp pain at his butt- "Argh! M-My diamond-" he squeaked at being slapped there. It wasn't an extremely hard hit and a sick, twisted side of him actually  _enjoyed_ that stuff. So, when he was slapped again a few times, he moaned more out of pleasure than scream out of pain and his erection only became worse. 

The diamond had very much noticed that as well. He gently kneaded the abused body part "Hm, what was that? Do you enjoy being hit by me?  **Tell me**!"

"Y-Yes, my diamond!" he choked out- he was  _desperate_. He was fully hard now and really needed friction. Ashamedly, he rubbed against the covers beneath him, as he wasn't allowed to turn around or move too much. And Steven only made it worse with his massaging and talking! When he gripped a bit tighter, he moaned again in frustration.

"Such a bad Emerald. You shouldn't make my punishment ineffective like that! I have another idea, though. I could just leave you like that and go away!" he evilly proposed. He hadn't had this much fun in weeks. 

The zombie began begging "Please don't! I'll do anything!"

He laughed "Anything? My love, you'd do that either way. I can order you to do my bidding, even if you disagree. I could order you to jerk off, but never come the whole day. Or I could  _fuck_ you and do the same. Or, I could gift you to some random gem and they'd  _use_ you. I'd gift you away like a pretty, little Pearl. Because really, you're no  _better_ than them. You get off on submitting to your  _owner_ and beg me to do something  _for you_ , although you should aim to please  _me_ ~!" He pushed Lars around with his strength, preventing him pleasuring himself. The latter sobbed quietly at that, pleading again. He felt so bad for feeling this turned on by his boyfriend, especially from being insulted and put in his place. Where had Steven even gotten that from? The diamond leaned in close to his ear, after having climbed onto him again and whispered "I give you one last chance to tell me no now; if you don't, I'll go on and won't stop anymore. So, tell me the  **truth**. Do you want to sleep with me or not?" After all, he didn't intend on  _raping_ Lars through orders without knowing it. 

He pondered the question shortly, but his arousal clouded his mind anyway. While he tried to grind into the one above him, he answered "I do-  _please_!" Pleased with the answer, the gem ground into him as well, making him mewl and moan. He shut him up a bit by sealing their lips together, kissing as long as possible. He then made sure to suck a few hickeys into his zombie, confirming his court's assumptions. He had of course heard himself of the rumors, that he had already been sleeping with his ambassador and they quite frankly pleased him. Everyone shall now, what he did to the older one. He had waited so very long for this- at least a year or so. He had not had these thoughts back then to dominate and own the other- that only appeared, once he knew of his identity. Had they been together back then, their roles would have been reversed. But his possessiveness got worse with every day he spend on Homeworld, it seemed. 

He felt, that Lars could not take much more torturing and decided to relieve him. The diamond began undressing the both of them, throwing their things somewhere else mindlessly. When he had his pretty, pink zombie undressed completely, he lazily stroked him. He didn't want to be too cruel with him today; he had gone through so much already. So he didn't just lean back and let the other boy do all the work himself and helped instead. He would make this  _relatively_  nice for him. When the ambassador began begging again for _more_ , he asked "You've got to be more specific there- what do you want, hm~?"

Stars, did he really have to do this? "Nngh-  _fuck me_ , please! My diamond..." he trailed of. When Steven actually proceeded to wet his fingers and breach his entrance, he could have almost married him. His diamond seemed to have some empathy at least! It hurt at first, but he didn't mind that much. Also, any damage would be instantly healed anyway. When Steven started massaging his prostate, he began chanting his title again. Perhaps he should have become a Pearl instead of an Emerald, then he could do this far more often probably. He would have to leave Homeworld like this now and again...

"Such a good, little Emerald... you've gone through so much and have not given up on serving your diamond. Don't you think, you deserve a reward for that?" he cooed at his boyfriend and deemed him to be prepared enough. Enthusiastically Lars nodded and the gem began positioning himself in front of the ambassadors entrance. "Yeah, I think so too~ But don't think, I will always be this nice to you," he warned. This was a one-time thing. Next time Lars would have to work a little more for this... He pushed in slowly, as to not hurt his boyfriend more than necessary. The latter encircled his neck to pull him closer and hide in it, so the diamond wouldn't make fun of his pained expression. When he was fully emerged in the other, he waited for a short while and let Lars get accustomed to this- or had he done this before? " **Tell me** , is this your first time?" he inquired. He hoped it was or it would kind of break his heart. 

"Y-Yes, my diamond," he blurted out. He really hadn't done anything in that regard. He had kissed Sadie like once and he didn't even like it.

Please with the answer, he started to move, making Lars moan out his real name again. "Good...," he groaned and began nibbling at the zombie's neck. 

Despite being a moaning mess, the older one wanted to know "M-My diamond? Nngh- am I your first as well?" He expected the answer to be yes. Steven was still rather young, despite being an emperor. And who would he-  _Connie_. If he slept with Connie, he would make her vanish in secret. No one could ever have  _his_ diamond like this! Their bond was unique! 

"Are you jealous and want me for yourself? You really are in no place to do so, my love. But yes, you are my first. And if you keep being obedient and loyal to me, you'll be my only one forever," he promised. If Lars didn't give him a reason not to, he'd stay his. He loved him a lot, even if he sometimes had to order and punish him. 

His only one forever? Lars liked the sound of that. Turns out, he really was special to his boyfriend and it had not only been empty promises. He began demanding to be kissed by the diamond, which he did. He felt so good being held and thrust into by his ruler; his pleas and mewls grew even louder. When he was getting closer to release, the door suddenly opened. The diamond and he looked there and they saw the maid coming in. Despite seeing, what they were doing, she bowed and went on to clean the room. The diamond shrugged and went on to pound into him to his utter confusion. "M-My Diamond w-won't you, mmh, send her out?!" he asked, while trying to stifle his moans.

"Why bother? This isn't a secret anyway and she only does her work. Just ignore her," he cruelly stated. He knew this embarrassed Lars immensely, but it was fun to him seeing that. Seductively, he whispered into his boyfriends ear "Now why don't you show her, how good I am to you, hm?  **Don't** muffle yourself." To provoke him even more, he pounded harder into him, making him groan openly in response. He felt himself coming closer, wanting to fill him up. The zombie was pretty close himself, by the way he moaned and scratched at his back and he finally did come, once he felt warm fluid gushing into him. 

After being kissed exhaustedly, he cuddled up to the diamond, who had collapsed besides him and let himself be held. "I love you...," he whispered happily, but a bit out of breath. 

"I love you more," the gem teased him jokingly, caressing his back a little. "Thank you so much for being here with me, despite all that has happened. I couldn't do this alone, Lars. Don't ever leave me, please..." he thanked him and he really did mean it. He was on the brink of snapping, before the zombie had joined him. He couldn't have stayed here alone. At hearing this much praise, Lars could only kiss his diamond-

He felt that weird pull again, but it didn't stop this time. Either way, he commenced the kiss, which proved to be a mistake. Steven was so exhausted from their activities and the rest of the day, that he had not paid enough attention to what was happening. So, with a surprised yelp, their fusion suddenly lay, where they had been mere seconds ago. He backed away from  _himself_ , which resulted in him falling out of the shared bed and onto the floor. Stars' maid looked rather horrified- her diamond had just fused, said fusion was naked and had hurt himself by falling down. With wide eyes, she regarded this  _thing_. It was  _very_ tall in comparison to their diamond. It was almost double the size of the organic mate of him. It had four arms and it's skin was human-like, while the hair was longer than the diamond's, unruly and pinkish. 

Quickly, Stars gained back his composure and covered himself. He really should not scar the gem more, even if it was funny. "Uh...  **I forbid you** from telling anyone of us fusing, ok? Oh stars, what have we done?" the fusion quickly exclaimed. 

"Yes, my diamond!" she proclaimed and reluctantly resumed her work. 

Stars was confused. Most of him was very happy to be fused, but a small voice reminded him of the danger of it. He spoke to himself like a mad person "We can't do this! I-It's forbidden! But we like it, don't we? We love each other and why should we unfuse then? If the others find out, they'll end this. But no one is here except her!...  _Fine_! We'll stay like this for a while, now shut up!" With that settled, he went to the bathroom, as he felt kind of  _sticky_. Lucky for Stars, all of the things were made for someone taller than a human, so he fit in everywhere. He looked at himself in the mirror- he looked super cool! And kind of  _girly_. He was built like Lars mostly and with his medium long hair, it really made him kind of feminine. Washing himself with four arms was really  _interesting_ , but also extremely efficient. Perhaps they should stay like this forever- no. He would shower and then go to sleep; in the morning they'd separate. A big part of him felt disappointed at that. But they could surely fuse soon again and Steven would legalize cross-fusion as soon as possible, too! 


	10. Harmony

Lars was grumpily sitting on the diamond's throne. Steven had just left him alone to meet his two, colorful and  _stupid_ sisters! And after all they had done yesterday, he had not even been allowed to accompany him! He gave zero shits, that him sitting there was completely and utterly  _forbidden_. He would show his diamond, what he thought of being ignored. Also, his behind was still hurting in  _multiple ways_ and the throne was  _really_ soft... Why couldn't they just have stayed fused? They could have even shapeshifted to look like Steven- no one would have been the wiser. But  _no,_ it was  _forbidden_. He didn't care! Leisurely, he half-lay on the gigantic chair, ignoring the weird stares he got. He was higher-ranked than them anyway, how dare they judge him?! He decided to close his eyes and rest for a while. He'd surely get punished later again. 

He didn't know, how much time he spend there ranting inside his head, but after  _some_ time, someone tried to get his attention by coughing awkwardly. It had become deadly silent and when he opened his eyes, he almost wanted to flee in panic. "Well, those aren't very nice thoughts you have there, dear," White Diamond pointed out.

Hurriedly, he jumped out of the throne and bowed, but it was too late anyway. "W-White Diamond! Whatever are you doing here?" he scaredly asked.

"Oh, I was searching for  _you_. We  **have to** talk now and in private," she exclaimed. Being forced to comply, he led her to a conference room, where they could talk and sit down. She sat next to him, frightening him again alone with her presence. "Oh dear, don't be scared. I'm not here to punish you or hurt you in any way. Still, we need to talk. I could not help but notice your thoughts all the way back to my palace- no, I usually don't listen in all the time. Anyways, we need to talk about your Pink Diamond," she began saying. 

He became only even more anxious at her words, if she really could observe his thoughts even here... "B-But why? O-Oh stars, you know we-"

"-Fused, yes. But don't worry. Pink's plans to establish cross-fusion is no secret to me, because of you. And I'm not completely against it either; I know myself, that some of Homeworld's customs are outdated. But this in itself isn't our topic. Have you noticed something weird in your diamond's behavior?" she asked.

Weird? He didn't know, what she meant, but some things were at least  _new_ "Well, since he came here, he has become really, uh,  _dominant_? He was also a bit aggressive, when talking to our friends, which is very unlike him. A-And he's kind of eloquent now, but that's probably due to you diamonds educating him. But besides that?" Nothing else came to mind.

She nodded in approval " And have you noticed changes in yourself as well?... Yes, I am talking about the submission. Do you see a pattern? You two perfectly complete each other. But there is a problem, I want to discuss. It is normal for diamonds to be this way. We  _want_ to overpower others and rule; we can't do anything else. Since we are four diamonds however, we can never completely gain all power. This is good, because then we can control each other more or less and we don't want to loose this dynamic. To do this, we have our Pearls. They aren't just 'pretty decor' as you would say or are only there to submit to us. It is also their job to balance us out and tell us, when it is time to  _stop_. We often don't realize, how much is too much. When we get sad, they cheer us up and when we get angry, they calm us down. When we get too dominant, they give us something to vent. So, this helps keeping harmony between the four courts."

"But my diamond doesn't have a Pearl..." he stated matter-o-factly. 

"And that is the problem. His Pink Pearl has never existed. Every diamond has a corresponding Pearl, as you know. They usually are made out of the planets, we ourselves emerged from to do this. The thing with Pink is: her planet was too small. You know, Homeworld isn't this hollow, because we wanted it to. It was destroyed in big parts, when I emerged from it. But that still left enough of it to live here and form my Pearl. Pink Diamond's planet however, was completely obliterated. We just couldn't give her a Pearl from there. So, I had to give her a substitute and you know,  _how that turned out_. And the same situation is happening now: Pink Diamond is becoming more and more aggressive and dominant with no one to sooth him. That's why I haven't given him a Pearl yet: it's useless," she explained to him.

"Have you told  _him_ that? Why are you telling _me_ this?" Lars inquired.

She chuckled "I've explained the functions of Pearls to him, but not, that I would never give him another one. That's where you come into play. I'm just telling you this now, because I had to observe you two interacting to be sure. Human Lars,  _you_ will be his Pink Pearl...  _No_ , I'm not changing your rank. But you **will** take on responsibilities, a Pearl would. It is of upmost importance, that you do so. Anything else would not only endanger the harmony on Homeworld, but will most likely lead to the destruction of your Earth as well. You two are almost a perfect fit! You are far better for him than his old Pearl, so I am positive, this will work!"

"But what should I even do?  _Sing for him_? I don't know...," he pointed out. He could not do the things, the Pearls did! It was humiliating!

"If you can. It doesn't matter, how you achieve any of this in detail. You only have to submit to him, so he can vent by  _using_ you. If he gets angry, you could perhaps touch him to calm him down and if he's sad, you surely know some Earth-stuff, which will make him happy again. Also, you can give him advice, if he is not dealing with stuff well. I'm sure, you'll manage. And as a reward for your service, I will see to off-colors and cross-fusion to be legalized. Keeping our harmony here is very important to me, you see. If you have questions, you can just talk to any of the Pearls, especially ours'. Now, We really should part...," she exclaimed and left him alone to his thoughts.

Slowly, he trotted back to the throne room and sat on the arm-rest instead of the throne itself. He would give his best to do this and keep Steven happy! Some of their gems looked at him in worry, so he said "Uh, everything's alright. And I'd  _really_ appreciate it, if you did not tell our diamond, that I sat on his throne, thanks." Some gems bowed to him and seemingly agreed to his plea. Now, he just had to wait and the  _somehow_ tell Steven all of this. When his diamond returned however, he looked  _extremely_ upset and angry. 

"Can you believe this?! Yellow doesn't want to give me her organic colonies yet- because she doesn't trust me with it! How dare she! I'm not my mom I...," he shouted to no one in particular, stomping angrily. Well, seems like he would have to fill his new role already. He carefully approached the gem and touched his arm, before embracing him completely and asking to be allowed to speak.

"My diamond, I'm sure she has trust in you. But you have to see her point as well. You've  _just_ arrived here six weeks ago- she has been here for thousands of years. Of course she is reluctant to give you this many colonies at once, especially, if we still have to deal with earth. I think, we should deal with that problem first, don't you too?" he tried to soothe him by rubbing his back. Hopefully this really worked, otherwise he would be hurt very soon.

The diamond felt kind of stunned. He had not anticipated Lars to oppose him like that and just embrace him. Also, for once it was him being held and not the other way around. But he did have a point and the more he was embraced, the better he felt again. "I- Perhaps you are right. I don't even know, why I get this angry all the time, I'm sorry. I'm probably still stressed out a little. Thank you," he admitted his mistake. Lars kissed him on the cheek before letting go and sitting down again, which Steven did as well, still kind of trapped in a stupor. His court seemed to be interested in those developments as well, watching on in secret.

"I know, why you get this angry, though. I just had a very nice talk with our  _supreme leader_ ," he admitted, while caressing his boyfriend's arm. He didn't want to risk him getting mad again. When he saw, he had Steven's attention, he went on to explain, what she had told him, but left out the reward.

It kind of made sense. He asked further "And you are okay with that? That wasn't really in your job description and it means, we can't separate that often."

"Yes, my diamond. I achieved my old purpose mostly anyway. That is, we probably should go and meet our prisoners to wrap this up. My opinion still stands, we should not declare war, nor shatter Pearl. We could ban her from Homeworld, though. But not the others! They didn't do anything, especially not the humans, " he advised. 

"You really want that? I don't know- my sister-gems only told me, they did not care and the Sapphires had mixed opinions. But perhaps you are right, I don't want a war either. I didn't come here for that. We'll talk to them!" he declared and send one of his guards to get them. He had no intention to speak in the prison itself. Proud of him, the 'Pink Pearl' kissed him again. Using their few minutes of free time, the diamond pulled him onto his lap again, so Lars sat on top of him. 

He giggled "I think, you are really scarring your court for life, my diamond. But I don't mind..." The things those poor gems had to endure! But Lars would see to it, that this stayed relatively tame. He still had to apologize to that poor maid-gem. It really was no good, that their court was open like this. Pretty much any gem could come in, unlike in the other courts. Anyways, he let himself be manhandled, as Steven pulled him closer by his waist and deepened their kissing. Lars felt Steven fiddling with the buttons of his shirt close to his neck "What are you doing? We can't do this  _now_ ," he reminded, pulling the diamond's hand away. He had already unbuttoned three buttons, when he did so and the diamond disapprovingly growled. The zombie really hoped this behavior wouldn't get out of hand in the future- he wasn't an exhibitionist! Apparently though, he had possessed perfect timing, as just then the rebels came in. Blushing a bit, he closed his shirt again and corrected his clothing in general. When he wanted to climb out of Steven's lap though, the latter prevented escape.

He whispered to him " **Don't go**. I need your support here!" He kissed Lars' cheek in plain view to everyone. 

"Ah yes,  _support_. I think you only want to  _display_ me, my diamond," he accused the ruler. Still, he was okay with it and didn't have any other option anyway. He  _had_ to submit and also, this would come out sooner or later. They might as well come out of the closet  _now_. Sighing, he leaned back into his warm, breathing cushion. It was  _even better_ than sitting on the throne itself. 

The prisoners approached, everyone of them handcuffed and looking scared. They assumed the worst. After they had reached their destination, they were pushed down onto their knees, just like Lars had been. Pearl especially looked horrible, not even daring to meet anyone's eyes. She had messed up big time. The diamond began stating "I'm sure you know, why you are here. You broke our treaty mere minutes after signing it! Pearl, what can you say to your defense?"

"I-I...Nothing! I was so angry and- and hurt! I didn't know, what I was doing- Please, don't punish the others for my mistake! They had nothing to do with it," she began blabbering nonsensically. 

Connie intervened again "No, Pearl! We are all in this together, we are the Crystal Gems! We have to stick together! Lars has already admitted, it was his fault; we should not be punished anyway!" Was she the only one, who valued their friendship?

Steven got angry again, Lars could feel by his quickening pulse. The emperor declared "Lars has already been punished sufficiently for that, I assure you! And even then, it was not his sole fault. It does not matter, how much he provoked- Pearl should not have killed him!" The zombie was quick to stroke his sides supportingly at that and calmed him down. He did not need an enraged diamond now. 

"Like hell he was! You would not hurt him, if you are  _this_ close!" Connie accused him of lying. Lars was cuddling the hybrid  _in front of them_!

His boyfriend motioned for him to talk, so he did "Yes he would. I have been sentenced to be whipped twenty times and endured all of that. Our relationship doesn't matter, as I have to be punished for disobedience and failure either way." When he saw his mom trying to say something, he added "No mom, it's alright. I'm fine now! We may speak of this later, but not now." 

Amethyst pointed out "If there even is a  _later_. If you are going to kill us, just do it already,  _Steven_!" A guard next to her punched her in the gut for that. No one should call their diamond that!

"I am not going to decide this,  _Lars will_. He is the one who has been killed after all!" the diamond snorted at her demand. They could be happy, Lars was such a good soul or else, they would be dead. 

"Pearl, you will be banned from Homeworld. The others of you can come and go whenever and the treaty still stands. If only one of you tries something funny though, each and every last one of the Crystal Gems will be executed. That  _includes_ human members as well,  _Connie_ ," he threatened. He had enough of her. How dare she accuse his diamond of anything? She was probably just jealous, he had not taken her in place of the zombie! Immediately a Rose Quartz came to drag of Pearl and release the others. He and his diamond lazily watched on in the meantime, still clinging to each other. He could get used to this. 

However, Steven suddenly had other ideas and pushed him off, while standing up himself. "So! Why don't we take this somewhere else, so you don't have to kneel on the floor all day?  **Follow me**!" he declared, sounding far too happy all of a sudden. The zombie began trailing shortly behind him, as did the others a bit further back. He led them to some sort of lounge with rather oversized furniture, that was more fit for diamonds really. He motioned for the others to sit on a couch opposite of themselves and then they sat down as well. When Lars sat too far away for his liking, he pulled him closer again. Happily, the older one obliged and leaned against him. 

Mrs. Barriga blurted out right away "Laramie, will you come home now? I mean, you reached your goal, haven't you? A-And I'm sorry, but I don't want you to get abused here!" She had to get through to him and take him home.

"No mom. Even if I fulfilled that purpose, I already serve a new one. I will stay be my diamond's side and keep him happy and calm. And I am not being abused! I only get punished, so I don't repeat my mistakes. Also, this punishment now was rather severe, as the failure was too. They aren't normally that harsh," he tried to convince her.

"But why? Why would you want any of that?" she became louder, making the guards become interested in her.

He looked up to Steven and smiled "Because I love my diamond and I prefer this life over my old one. Mother, I am truly happy here!"

When Greg heard that it dawned on him, that Steven wouldn't be coming back then as well. When he asked the gem to confirm it, he said "Yes, I have to stay here. We both serve Homeworld now. I can't abandon my court and people, just so I can lead a 'normal' life on earth. But  _you_ can visit us all you want now! I'm quite busy, but I'll certainly find some time for you! It isn't as bad here as you assume it to be. Everyone is quite nice once one gets to know them and I essentially live here like a king!" 

Dante was quite put off by his son's behavior towards Steven. He touched him all the time, gave him kisses- what  _kind_ of love were they talking about? It did not seem to be love out of loyalty. "Laramie, what did you mean by  _loving_ him exactly? Are you two an item? Not that I'm judging, but I'm a bit concerned, that your friend here brainwashed you into it...," he pried. Lars had never even talked about the younger boy before and now he was head over heels for him? Also, since when had he become gay?

Possessively, the diamond lay and arm around Lars' waist and over his abdomen. "We are boyfriends, yes. And I did not order him to love me- I'm not some kind of sicko! Had he declined, I wouldn't have forced him into it either. He does this voluntarily," he assured him and Lars nodded in approval. Steven really had not, he assumed.  _He hoped, really_. And even if, it felt good. Steven saw, that Lars' parents did not seem that convinced, so he went on to say "And really, I'm doing my best to keep him happy here! Every material wish of him is granted and I don't order him around  _too much_. And he could leave my side most of the time, if he wanted. I seldom have to deny his requests to leave."

The zombie added "And my job isn't too bad either. It mainly consists of advising, delivering messages and being  _affectionate_. It's not that hard. I also don't mind all these rules, that I have to follow, even if they seem a bit, uh  _degrading_. Because in reality, I possess the third highest rank in Homeworld- the only ones above me, that I have to obey are the diamonds." Bragging about his rank felt kind of good, even if it was a bit silly. But he was proud of being special! 

Suddenly, Steven remembered something "Lars, perhaps we should give them your crew- who knows, how long they'll have to be bubbled otherwise? I think they won't appreciate being  _held captive_ for so long by their own leader." He had almost forgotten all about them...

"Oh... but there is something else, my diamond. White Diamond promised me to legalize fusions and off-colors as a reward, I just don't know  _when_. Perhaps it will happen very soon anyway?" he told him. He had kept that from Steven as of yet, intending to surprise him. 

Garnet and Amethyst gasped in awe- Steven had  _indeed_ kept his promise? The diamond was quite shocked as well "She did? That's awesome! We'll have to ask her later an-"

However the Pink Diamond was rudely interrupted already, by his sister warping right in the middle of the couches, they were sitting on. She had of course observed the happenings and so decided to settle this right away. Normally, she hated going to public for multiple reasons: everyone automatically wanted to get her attention and praise her and the excited thoughts of others, when seeing her made her head spin after a while. This would surely happen now as well, but she was just  _so_ interested in the new additions to Homeworld and what they did next. No Sapphire could predict this for sure and Pink Diamond's mind was a big mystery to her. It was exciting for once! She chirped happily "I see you have achieved your goal, Emerald! Seems like we don't have to execute you after all~!"

Getting the joke this time, the ambassador smiled and stood up shortly to bow for her. Confused, his parents tried to copy the motion while sitting. This  _woman_ must have been the scariest thing they had ever seen. She was  _gigant_ ic! And did she just threaten their son? "Thank you, White Diamond! It would have been quite regrettable, if that had taken place..." he noted and Steven nodded, before pulling him back down. Lars doubted, that the arrival of White was a pure coincidence- just how far did her ability reach? 

"Oh dear, I can read the minds from my palace to that of the others- why did you think, I let them be built this close? And no, my visit is no coincidence at all. You are a very clever one, aren't you?" she giggled. She really enjoyed the pink boys thoughts. "Now, let us talk about your reward, hm? We will do this as fast as possible and I have had a great idea on how to do it. How about we celebrate Earth's peace with us, your diamond's return and these changes all at once? Yes, I was thinking about an official  _party_. We haven't had one of those in six-thousand years! Surely, it will make the public more accepting of this and boost morale. There we can show, that we diamonds accept off-colors and cross-fusions, as they will be attending as well!" she proudly showed them her plan. Okay, Lars really had a new favorite gem now besides his diamond. 

Pink Diamond frowned a bit however "Do Blue and Yellow know of this? I don't think they will be very supportive... Also, who do you want to fuse? There is only Garnet, Fluorite and Rhodonite and that's about it. Well, Amethyst could fuse into them as well. But I can't fuse with anyone there! My image is quite fragile as is- if this goes wrong, it will be ruined! I can't let that happen, regardless of how much I'd want to do it. I will only fuse with someone, if the public and our sisters are positive towards it! And we can't just force people into cross-fusing, either." The idea was nice, but put him at too much risk. His court liked him rather well, but the others did not. They were quite put off by him being a hybrid! He could not give them more reasons to be against him. 

He didn't want to fuse with him? The zombie understood the reasoning, but it still hurt. He missed Stars, even if he had not been him for long. And they couldn't pull this off with like three or four fusions. Then it would just seem, like no one wanted to do this anyway and if no diamond fused, it would only worsen their chances. And who should the others fuse with? They could not fuse two diamonds- that wouldn't be a cross fusion! And he doubted they would fuse with their Pearls somehow. 

That definitely posed a problem, White accepted. They had tons of off-colors stored away, but he was right. Four fusions was too little for such a big event. And they desperately needed a diamond to fuse. Green Diamond was an option, but was no cross-fusion, Lars was right. Either way, the diamonds had agreed to not fuse to keep their balance. Fusing with a Pearl was out of the question- that would shock their subjects too much. She regarded the zombie-  _it could work_. "Well... in that case, why don't  _you_ fuse with me, ambassador? It would be a cross-fusion and you are high-ranked enough, so it won't be too much of a shocker. It might even send a good signal of Pink's court being accepted by us completely. Only problem is, I don't know if it will work. Gems can't fuse with none gems- your diamond can only do so, because he is a hybrid. But, you are also partly gem, I suppose. We  _could_ try and... And Pink, don't worry about our sisters, they  _will_ listen to me.  _They have to_ ," she proposed carefully. Immediately, she was hit with a mess of thoughts from the undead, which startled her a little.

Fusing with White Diamond? The gems, rebels and guards alike, gasped in utter shock and couldn't believe this. As no one broke the silence, Connie did "If I may say something as well: I think, the idea is great! Were I a gem, this would shock me, but in a positive way. I mean, the gems here on Homeworld are extremely loyal, aren't they? Everything you diamonds do will be seen as correct and good. Especially, if White Diamond does it!" 

White Diamond like the little girl- she understood her! Perhaps normal humans weren't that bad either. "Yes and you humans will bring all of your  _friends_ here as well, so Earth will be liked as well," she added.

Lars eyes alternated between watching White and Pink. What was he supposed to do? Steven would surely get jealous- but this would help everyone! The Pink Diamond saw his conflict somehow and whispered to him "I don't care, how you decide. I'm sure we would find another way as well, but this one is quite good."

"You are okay with me and White fusing? W-Won't it hurt you?" he whispered back in shock.

"No, it'll be fine... As long as you remember, who your diamond and  _boyfriend_  is!" the diamond threatened a little, but the zombie quickly kissed him and promised to do so. 

White laughed "So, I gather from that, that you are open to it? Great! Now we'll just have to plan a bit..."

 


	11. Festivities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know ao3 hates you, when it just freezes out of nowhere and you loose a whole chapter... Writing something twice is so much fun, yay!

He was sitting anxiously on Steven's bed, as the diamond tried to calm him down. Lars had already been visited by the fashion-gem again, who had given him new things. He was wearing a black tux with a white shirt beneath it and a real rose on his chest. It was intended to show, that he was connected to Earth somehow, she told him. He could understand that a little, as his usual pink attire practically screamed Homeworld and Pink Diamond. As an ambassador though, he should represent Earth once in a while as well. 

"My diamond, are you sure this was a good idea? What if the fusion doesn't even work...," he insecurely asked, but Steven stroked through his hair lovingly.

He laughed "Love, I'm positive it will work. Why are you even this nervous? I thought, you liked fusing and White Diamond." 

"Yes, I do. But this is different from fusing with you! I don't want to insult you, but you aren't a  _normal_ diamond. Stars is only 1/4 diamond, while this fusion will be 1/2! Perhaps it will be completely different! Also, what will it even be called- what gender will it have? And I am worried about White's mind-reading; what if I can't cope with it?" he whined to his boyfriend. His hands were trembling a little, he observed.

"Pearl fused with my mom before; Rainbow Quartz was also 1/2 diamond and she wasn't some kind of godlike monstrosity! She was a fusion like any other. The name doesn't matter too much. We'll either name it after your color-scheme or mix your names together.  _I don't know_. My fusions with girls and gems are usually female, but that might be, because of my gem. Perhaps your fusion will be both? And how bad can some mind-reading be? You have been possessed by me before; I think that's worse," the diamond tried to assure him and kiss his worries away. If the zombie got too scared, the fusion wouldn't work. 

Soon, they had to go to the festival, which took place on Homeworld on a big, open space. To be quite honest, it had been  _perfectly_ planned by the diamonds. Millions of lights in the diamond's colors were flying high above their heads, creating a roof and lighting up the night. In the middle of the festival was a diamond-shaped stage with some of White's spare Pearls singing on it for now. Later, the diamonds' real Pearls and even Sadie would sing there. All around the place were vendors selling food from Beach City mainly to other humans and there were places to sit as well. A bit further of were the diamond's palanquins, so they could retreat. They weren't quite used to such big gatherings. Lastly, some of the guests were disguised guards, so security was no problem either.

He followed his diamond around for a while, not wanting to leave his side. He had become so... _clingy_. Just like Steven became more dominant with every day, he himself got more passive, calm and docile. It only made sense, after all he had to balance out the other. He watched on, as Steven discussed various matters with high-ranked gems. He seemed to be convincing them, that the change of rules and his colony were indeed a good thing. Quickly though, he became bored. He wished he could hold his diamond's hand at least, but he had been prohibited from doing so. He could only touch the other, if it was necessary or the other initiated it. Everything else was 'too dominant and bold', he had been told. Sulking, he looked around a little. The other diamonds weren't there yet, but many of his own friends were.

Suddenly, he heard his own name being called and he turned towards the sound. It was his mom, who approached him. He asked his diamond to be excused and then went to her. They talked about the situation in Beach City and their relatives for a while. When his diamond walked further off however to talk to someone else, his dad immediately grasped for his arm and whispered in hurry "Laramie, quick! We know where one of the teleporters is! We can help you escape and hide on Earth. If we move states, he will never find us! Come on-!"

Offended, Lars pulled his arm free "What? D-Dad, I don't want to  _flee_! I told you, I love him and I'm happy here- just leave me alone!"

To his dismay, his mom and dad only tried to drag him off again. "No honey, you are confused! Don't you see, he is only using you f-for your body? He even tortures you, if you deny his requests!" his mom begged him to follow them.

He tried fighting them off again, but was too weak against two grown adults "No! He loves me as well, let go! I would know, if it was otherwise- I fused with him! And there is no torture- what are you talking about," he whined. Lucky for him, this attracted the attention of an Amethyst guard near them and she came over to inspect. When she realized, those humans tried to kidnap her ambassador, she intervened. Angrily, she pushed Lars' parents off of him and stood in-between them.

"How dare you attack him! Emerald, are you alright? Should I kill them?" the guard hurriedly asked. If the zombie got hurt on her duty, Pink Diamond would  _end her_. Everyone knew, how very close they were. It was common knowledge by now, the two had a special bond.

While more and more visitors watched on, Lars hurriedly ordered "N-No! It was only a misunderstanding, _they_ are a bit confused. Just  **keep them away** from me,  **without** hurting them, ok? I don't know; go eat something with them, I don't care- And if you can, tell them how nice  _our_ diamond is and convince them of it, yes?  _Good_." A bit disoriented, he only wanted to get back to his diamond. He saw the Amethyst take the two by their hands, talking to them and pulling them to the nearest food-stand. Those two have been trying this over and over again. They send him secret letters, phoned him and talked to him- every time trying to get him to come home. It made him rather sad, but what was he supposed to do? He had told them he was happy here, but they just would not accept it. Steven was pretty angry at them- if they did this a few more times, he would probably ban them from the planet. 

He fought himself through the crowd, but did not find his diamond. The festival was simply too big... However, he saw Sadie and the cool kids. When they saw him as well, they immediately came over, hugged him and greeted him. Sadie exclaimed "Lars! It's so nice to see you! This party rocks!"

"Oh, hey... Thank you, the diamonds put a lot of thought into it. Sorry I disappeared like that last time, but I had to do my work. I even wanted to come back, but the Pearl  _killed me_ ," he explained, sounding somewhat exhausted.

Jenny noticed this "Yeah, Connie told us all about it. I didn't get half of it, but whatever. What's wrong, man? You look kinda sad...this is a party!"

He awkwardly laughed "I uh, kind of miss my diamond. You haven't stumbled upon him, have you?" They shook their heads. "Hm, I'll find him sooner or later. Sometimes I wish, he was taller like the others," he went on to sulk.

Sadie laughed at him and punched his arm as a joke "Aww~ I would have never guessed, you would grow so fond of the little pest!"

Immediately, two guards who had heard this, were approaching, but Lars waved them of " _Sadie_ \- you can't call him that here! Please, for the love of stars, call him  _Pink Diamond_. If someone hears you saying something else, you'll end up in prison!" he hurriedly said.

Jenny frowned "What? So he  _really_ is a king now? I thought, that was a joke!"

"Yes! My diamond is one of four rulers here, that is no joke! So please, treat him like one as well," he begged. He did not want his friends to be hurt by the guards for not knowing better. It was one thing if he got punished, but them? 

"And what are you doing here, then?" Sour Cream asked further. Connie had surely told them this, but the girl always spoke so fast and complicatedly...

Proudly, he told them "I am a representative for Homeworld,  _as you should know_. But I mainly stay by Pink Diamond's side now and keep him happy and calm. He has become quite...  _dominant_ in his ways and I have to balance him out before he does something, he'll regret later. I also give him advice and deliver messages."

"Dominant? Sounds kind of kinky, if you ask me!" Jenny laughed loudly. But suddenly, it all made sense to her. How could she have been so blind? The nickname, Lars missing the other after a short while,  _dominance_ \- She gasped "You two are an item!"

Blushing furiously, he confessed " Yes, we are. Has no one told you yet? And it wasn't meant to sound  _kinky_..."

Now Sadie felt really sorry for insulting Steven, in front of his  _boyfriend_. "O-Oh. No, Connie has not told us. So did I get this right- You work for him, but you are also his boyfriend? Why would you? If he's the ruler here, he should have enough money, so you don't have to work...," she asked in confusion. Lars had never enjoyed working, so why would he do this?

What the- "Uuuh. You've kind of got it right, but not completely. You know, I'm not  _getting paid_. To say it rather straight forward, I am a  _slave_. My diamond owns me and he is able to magically force me to do his bidding. Don't be concerned though, I wanted this. I willingly put myself in his service to help him and Earth. This isn't like working at the Big Donut, Sadie. I can't disobey or just quit my 'job'," he gave his best to explain without scaring them away. 

"That's pretty fucked up, man," Sour Cream told him and the others agreed. He should just have gone to search his diamond and avoid the humans. He felt so utterly lost- everyone was against him! Without saying anymore, he only shook his head and wandered of. He had enough of the awful festival already. Giving his best to just not begin crying in the open, he fled to Pink's palanquin. He heard Sadie calling him and apologizing, but ignored it vehemently. Even when he saw his crew he hadn't seen in ages, he still kept on going. It had been a mistake to ever leave his diamond's side.  He opened the gigantic vehicle and went inside. Sadly, no diamond was to be seen and he just sat down to sulk more. Why did no one agree to this? 

After some time, he heard the diamonds' hymn being sung- at least one of them must have arrived. Still, he didn't care! He wished he could just go  _home_ to their palace and hide from his family and 'friends'. He would never find his diamond here! After even more time passed, he could hear Sadie and her band performing- he hoped, they felt bad! He decided, he would stay here until the stupid party was over. 

"But who am I going to dance with, then?" he heard and almost got an heart-attack from it. White gently pushed the curtains of the palanquin to the side, revealing herself. 

Being kind of sad, he slowly stood up and did an unmotivated bow, before sitting down again. "I don't know...," he simply stated.

She poked at his cheek, while saying "I could hear your negative, little thoughts through everyone else's, ambassador. What is wrong? Isn't the festival to your liking?"

"The festival in itself is  _perfect_ , White Diamond. Just the visitors here are  _not_. My own parents tried to kidnap me, I lost my diamond in the crowd and no one believes me being happy here!" he complained to her. He really should not. She was a  _diamond_. It wasn't in his right to do this. He was just one big failure...

"Well, you don't sound very happy to me either, my friend! And you could just have phoned your diamond with your tablet, dear... No, don't be ashamed! Perhaps the humans just need a little more time. It must be very weird to them, how you changed. It will be fine, I'm sure. And if you really are this concerned, why don't you ask the Sapphires about it?" she tried to cheer him up. They could not fuse, when he was this depressed.

He did not know, whether she was right or not. After all, she had so little experience with humans! But it probably was wrong to expect his friends to be supporting of all this. 

"Trust me, I am right. Humans and gems can't be  _this_ different, Emerald," she convinced him. 

"Maybe you are. I'll give them some more time; they might even see all of this differently, when they spend some time here at the festival. I'm sorry for bothering you with this, White Diamond. I know I'm only delaying our plans with this," he apologized and awaited punishment.

She smirked at him "Oh dear. Don't worry so much, you are making my head spin! Now, how about we make you think of something different? Let's dance and fuse! Just a word of warning, the mind-reading might overwhelm you at first with this many gems present... No, I've never fused before! Not even on accident, no. Come on now!" With him being comforted more or less, she stood up- she was far smaller than usual. "So you have finally noticed, hm? How would we have danced, if I was eight times your height?" she teased. He quickly followed her to the festival again. The crowd parted for them in awe. it was so rare to see White Diamond outside! 

Ironically, he even saw his diamond now. He was close to the stage, talking to his dad. Greg was probably supervising Sadie's performance, he guessed. When Steven saw him, he held his thumbs up and smiled, making his undead heart melt. He wished, he could-

"Don't even think about leaving me alone now. You can go meet your diamond later!" White warned, but still sounded friendly. Lars only waved at his diamond then, not running to him as wished. He dutifully followed her further and up until an area, where some humans and gems were dancing. He saw the Amethyst from before and his parents holding each others hands in a circle, while doing a dance. It mainly consisted of jumping up and down and his parents looked rather distressed. Stars, the guards really were dedicated... But he also saw Garnet dancing alone and some gems eyeing her in distrust. "Yes, many of them are rather upset at the off-colors and fusions being present. They think, they are dangerous. But we will change that, won't we?" White answered the question, he had not yet asked. He didn't know, whether her ability was scary or handy. "Also, they wonder what the both of us are doing here together," she added.

When they reached their destination, Sadie was still performing. He looked up at her and smiled a bit- he had overreacted. Then he had to put his concentration elsewhere, though. He had a mission to accomplish! He held out his hand to White Diamond- she would lead the dance anyway. He felt himself trembling a little- he had only fused once and that had been spontaneous! Also if he fucked up, he'd surely get punished. 

The diamond smiled and took his hand, before pulling him closer and into a rather elegant dance. "Don't worry, little ambassador- You won't get punished, as this will work for sure.  _Trust me_. Everyone will be so very proud of you...," she assured him. He wasn't little! "In comparison to me, you are!" she told him. He let himself be guided through the dance, his parents watching on in awe like everyone else. When his prior anxiety began to lessen more and more and he become relaxed, he felt the familiar pull of fusion. It wasn't as strong as with his diamond, but at least it was there. When their performance reached it's high, it became irresistibly strong however and he gave in. 

The crowd gasped in terror, as they saw their supreme leader merging with their ambassador- it was unheard of! The fusion was way taller than White Diamond even, but looked rather human-like. At least it's skin skin looked like that of a white human and it possessed only two arms. However, it had four eyes- the upper one's irises were white diamonds, while the lower one's sprouted black diamonds. It's hair had an unnatural white color and looked like an unkempt version of the former Pink Diamond's.  It wore a white shirt and black vest like Lars had, but an oversized white coat on top of that with black and white diamonds on them. The fusion looked rather startled and the first thing it did was cringe. The zombie was rather overwhelmed by the thousands of thoughts he heard now. He almost demanded to give up and unfuse, but White soothed him again, stabilizing their fusion. It was far too tall for the festival and hit the lamps with it's head. Noticing this, the fusion sat down cross-legged.

In shock, Sadie had stopped singing and let her mic fall- what was that thing? No one really knew what to do and only watched on in silence. However, Pink Diamond suddenly jumped onto the stage, rescuing the situation! He exclaimed "Hey...Black Diamond! It's so good to finally meet you!" Oh, so that's what they were called. He looked at the far smaller diamond on the stage and greeted him awkwardly. "You know I would hug you, but you are a tad bit too tall for me! How do you feel?" Steven went on to ask, while he saw his other two sisters slowly approaching. They had known of the plan, but still looked rather stunned at the display. 

"Thank you nevertheless! I feel great! All those anxious thoughts around me make me a little sad however. There is nothing wrong with us fusing, still many of our people seem to be upset about it- perhaps they are disloyal?" he jokingly said. Immediately a wave of regret hit him, as many of his gems became scared to be punished. 

Pink added "Don't let them do that to you! Cross-Fusing is awesome! I, for one,  _also_ enjoy doing it- as do many others! And as of today, it is legal as well. So really, I don't understand the doubt in our people either. And I'm sure Yellow and Blue Diamond don't as well,  _right_?!" He turned towards the two in hope- they had to say yes or this wouldn't work. They could not legalize this and then still be against it personally!

The two looked at each other, before nodding. They really didn't care much- if this would make Pink happy, they'd agree. Yellow even said "And at least in my court, every last one, who is against this or even the off-colors will be  _shattered_. After all, those  _traitors_ would possess the audacity to insult White Diamond and her decision right now!"

He could feel more anxiety, before it ebbed down into approval and calmness again. As far as Black Diamond could tell, the situation was under control. "Thank you for your support. Now, why don't we commence the festivities? We have hardly celebrated yet and fusing is  _encouraged_ , so this would be the perfect time to do it! Now,  **stop** gawking at me, everyone- You are making me  _blush_!" he giggled. As ordered, the low ranked gems  assumed, what they had been doing previously. The diamonds however looked at him in amazement.

Blue began feeling him up a bit- "Hm, you feel just like a gem would! This is very curious... And you even possess White's abilities...," she examined him. However, he didn't want to be some science experiment and stopped her administrations. He full on embraced her to achieve that, which made her tense up shortly. After a while though, she gave in to her fate and let it happen. The diamonds chatted for a while after that, discussing their achievements. 

Steven became more jealous with every passing minute. He turned towards Black and asked out of the blue "So, how long do you two plan to stay together?" Perhaps he really should have risked it and just fused with Lars. He seemed to be enjoying this far too much! They had achieved, what they had wanted! They could have unfused half an hour ago.

White didn't want to unfuse- this was very nice! It felt good to have another being with her and it somewhat relieved the stress induced by her abilities. Black answered "I don't know- the party has just started! There is so much, I have to test out yet...and I don't think, everyone is completely convinced as of yet!" Lars felt kind of guilty for making his diamond feel bad and wanted to be close to him, but White drowned out his worries with her own happy thoughts. After all, when would she get this chance again?

He felt kind of powerless- he could not demand of his higher-ranked sister, that she had to unfuse with his boyfriend. He muttered an annoyed "Okay..." before walking of. He did not want to see this or be seen sulking himself! He tried his best to get his mind off of his other half by speaking to friends and dancing. Still, he could not ignore them completely. Even after  _hours_ they had not unfused! When the party came to a close and he planned to go home, they still had not! They sat on the dance-floor and clapped on as others danced. He had enough! Stupid Lars- he would go home alone then! 

 


	12. Normality

The night had been plain horrible! He had hugged Sad Waffel with nothing else to hold onto and waited for  _his_ Lars! He couldn't sleep, while being alone. How dare his sister do this to him? And how dare Lars agree to it? He would punish him for leaving his side for so long! He felt so very angry again and no one was there to comfort him. Even when morning came, no zombie showed up and he got really concerned. But what was he supposed to do? he had no right to intervene or just show up at his sister's court. So he just got up and grumpily went to his throne room-  _alone_! 

It was so utterly boring as well. Almost no gem wanted something relevant from him. However, he got some visitors at last! Not from the one, he missed so much, though. Sadie and her cool friends came instead, looking rather ashamed. When the guards approached them, they quickly did a  _human_ bow. Steven found that to be sufficient and called of his Rose Quartzes again. "What do you want? I thought, you would be on Earth again," the diamond asked.

Sadie mumbled "We kinda wanted to meet Lars- I think, we kind of hurt his feelings. Where is he?"

"I don't know; I haven't seen him since he and White fused. How did you hurt him?" his tone became darker. 

Jenny went on "He told us of his life here and we didn't take it seriously enough for him, I guess. But to our defense, it sounded totally weird!"

Just great. Perhaps this was why Lars wasn't coming back? He had been hurt and now he was pouting. But he should be sulking at  _his_ court and not get comforted by White! He should be the one to hold him close and make him feel protected! His pulse quickened. "How dare you insult our way of living? You know very well, that we are the only reason you are still alive! If I wanted to, I could-," he started threatening them, but saw the door to the room being opened. Lars stepped in, looking  _awful_. He had bags under his eyes, his eyes were kind of dull and he did not walk with his usual swiftness. 

Slowly, he approached the throne and bowed, before kneeling down completely. "My diamond...I'm very sorry for having left you alone for so long. I shouldn't have. I know, I will probably receive punishment now and I fully deserve it," he said in a tone, that was a mixture of depression and embarrassment.

Ignoring his other visitors, he inquired "Why were you gone for so long- you look  _horrible_!  **Tell me the truth**!" He had forgotten all about his anger at the other- something must have happened.

"Yes, my diamond. W-White Diamond kind of  _forced_ me to stay fused with her. She had no ill intentions, she just enjoyed it far too much and ignored me. She kept us fused for the whole night even and had us stay at the festival! I honestly wanted to come back here, but I was too weak to unfuse. B-But then I had enough and  _somehow_ made us separate, which led to her getting really angry at me. I was so scared- but then White Pearl came and calmed her down again. She even apologized. This is all my fault! I should have been stronger and-," he began confessing. It had been awful. Forced fusion was definitely not a good thing, he had learned. He didn't blame her though, it was kind of  _addicting_. 

The diamond felt shocked, he had blamed Lars for no reason at all. " **Stand up** \- you don't have to apologize. This is entirely on my sister and I will make sure to have a word of warning with her. Now-," he ordered and looked at his boyfriend, who had stood up. He seemed to be rather exhausted and unsure of himself. "-Come here,  _if you want_. You can also go to sleep though," he offered. He needed Lars close, but he couldn't pressure the other more. Lucky for him, his ambassador didn't think long about it and came closer to the throne. Before he could sit on the uncomfortable arm-rest, Steven pulled him down besides him. Gratefully, Lars leaned against him and rested a little. He didn't want to leave his diamond's side any more. The other even lay an arm around him, making him feel secure. He'd  _never_ fuse with anyone but Steven again. 

"Uh...," Sadie went on to get their attention.

A bit annoyed still, the ruler asked "What? If you want to apologize, he's here."

Lars looked up in interest at that and Sadie stated "Lars, we are all very sorry for insulting you. We just did not know better! A-And all of this  _is_ a bit unusual, you must admit. Still, we don't judge or anything..."

After being granted permission to do so, the zombie answered "It's alright guys. You aren't the first to react badly, nor the last. But thank you for accepting it now; it means a lot to me." He felt so very tired. He only wanted them to go away, so he could close his eyes and sleep some. 

Sour Cream pointed out "You know, you two really should have some type of vacation. You look  _way too_ stressed out. Why don't you visit us at Beach City?" Even Steven looked rather exhausted to him. They needed to relax. 

"Thanks for the offer, but I can't leave my people now and Lars neither. I have to coordinate my court and colonies and he  _has to_ stay by my side. Perhaps I'll  _inspect_ my colony once in a while and we'll drop by....I can't promise anything, though," the diamond went on to say. 

"But Lars is an ambassador, shouldn't he at least come by regularly? I mean, why does he have to stay here as well?" Sadie asked in vain. 

"Because Lars isn't  _just_ an ambassador. And since the peace has been restored, there is no need for him to speak more to the rebels. I  _need_ him here. As you have witnessed yourself, I get quite aggressive if he isn't there. And Sour Cream, I'm only this stressed out, because I can't rest without him properly and I'm scared of him getting hurt," Steven denied her request. 

"Awww~," Jenny cooed "You really do fit together quite well, don't you? But... Barriga is together with you voluntarily, right?"

The zombie weakly giggled. Even if his diamond had become rather demanding and dominant, he would never force him to  _love_ him or sleep with him. He smiled and was permitted to say "I love him and I was not ordered to do so. Even if I get ordered a lot at times, we draw a line there. Don't worry. Of course I miss my old home at times, but I prefer this one now. I like  _serving_ my diamond!" They seemed to believe him and shortly after left them alone. The ambassador closed his eyes and only leaned against the other, while he worked. 

~~

Everything seemed to return to normal then. Days passed without any strange happenings. Most humans stayed on Earth, only their parents dropped by now and again. Lars parents even got a bit more positive about him being here! White had officially apologized to the two and Steven had gained new colonies. It was quite relaxing- Lars almost had no work. He mainly cuddled up to his diamond and that was it. However, after a few months of this an excited Connie came by and pestered them with some kind of pamphlet. 

"It's an invitation! Beach City will host another Beach-A-Palooza and since you missed the last one, you  _have_ to come! You haven't been on Earth in so long and you two can surely spare  _one_ evening, can't you? Please- Everyone would be so happy to see you two coming to visit  _us_!" she pleaded. Of course they could visit Homeworld all they wanted, but the two really should come home as well! 

The zombie looked at his diamond, while sitting half on top of him. He really wanted to go there- it would be awesome! But he could understand, if that wasn't possible. The diamond leaned down towards him though and asked "Do  _you_ want to go?" Excitedly he nodded in approval. When the other then actually agreed to it, he hugged his diamond closer and thanked him silently. Connie proceeded to leave them alone at that again and went home. The ruler still had to coordinate and settle some stuff, before they could go, but it wasn't too hard. Most of his colonies were giving him no trouble and the situation on the planet was also calm. He then pulled Lars up and they went to their private rooms, as it was already quite late. The party would take place tomorrow, so they had enough time to prepare. 

Lars stood in front of the mirror and asked "Do you think, we should wear  _normal_ stuff or this?" Perhaps it was a little inappropriate to go to the party like this, showing off his rank and court.

The diamond came up behind him and embraced him. "What, tired of wearing my colors?"

"Never," the other giggled. "It just seems a bit weird perhaps. You own Earth, yes,  but should you really show it off like that?" he asked. 

"Hm. We have to remind them of that once in a while, don't you think? And it's not like I'm  _showing off_. I don't wear a crown, after all. I simply have a consistent color-scheme and you too. Also, I can't stand seeing you in any other color- pink really suits you! It would only feel fake to wear something else. Don't worry so much," he advised. As always, the gem was right. Steven let his hands roam a little and started unbuttoning the top coat of Lars' outfit. The latter began giggling and wanted to turn around, but his stronger partner kept him like this. He watched on in the mirror, as he was being slowly undressed. When all the buttons on his coat were opened, it was dragged down his shoulders and hit the floor, before being kicked away.

"I don't think, our tailor will approve, my diamond," the zombie pointed out.

"She has made you like 30 of those, she'll live," the diamond ignored his concern. Really, that gem had made Lars her favorite model. After all, only the couple needed clothes at all and Lars just had a better figure, he had to admit. Even when he had shapeshifted into something taller, he had not become more interesting to her. Right now, he easily was as tall as his boyfriend and he abused that. He began nibbling at the other's neck, while getting the older one's pinkish vest of as well. The zombie smiled at him, knowing what was to come. He felt a certain hardness being pressed into him.

The hybrid's hands disappeared beneath his shirt then and stroked over his tummy, before unbuttoning the offending material as well. "You are so pretty, you know? And you are all  _mine_ ," he growled possessively. The ambassador had become accustomed to that behavior and honestly liked it a lot. Finally he was able to turn around and kiss his stupid diamond, pressing into him and encircling his neck. He did not like however, that his diamond wore so many clothes and let his hands slide down again. He pulled at Steven's shirt, but the other swatted his hands away. "Stop it, or you'll be hurt," the other threatened and he listened. Steven the proceeded to push the other down by his shoulder, making him kneel. He needn't be told, what was expected. With confidence in himself, he started freeing the other's dick from layers of clothing and greedily took it in his mouth. A hand on his head, stroking lovingly, encouraged him to go on. He let the diamond thrust into his throat, almost making him choke. He was very lucky, he had no real need for air. Still, when Steven began pulling cruelly at his hair and went faster, he began gagging. A few tears began streaming down his cheeks at the abuse, but the diamond only cooed and wiped them away. Soon, the ruler tensed and came in his mouth, giving him no chance, but to swallow. He kept kneeling, while the diamond pulled out and petted his hair again.

He was quite lucky the gem had such stamina or he would never find release. The diamond didn't much care for him coming usually and so did not return the favor. Really, he just used the other to find his own release and nothing else. Thankfully however, he kind of got off on that and being topped or he would die some day. After all, he couldn't even touch himself- Steven was quite unforgiving there. He had done so just  _once_ and never again. He had been punished by being used again and again, but had been ordered to not come. It had been horrible! At the end of it, he had been one big crying and begging mess and even then, he had not found any relief. He had been forced to wait until the problem solved itself. So, he obediently ignored his own need from then on and was just grateful for not being tortured again. 

"Such a good little slave for your diamond, aren't you?  **Lay on the bed** ," the emperor ordered next and he was obeyed. The older one lay down, as Steven advanced on him and fully undressed him. Next, he did so to himself and put on a little show, making Lars impossibly harder. "This might hurt a little~," the diamond warned. 

"W-Why, my diamond?" he confusedly asked. Of course, being prepared hurt a little- what did he mean? The other only smiled at him evilly and turned his boyfriend onto his stomach. Oh stars, he wouldn't- "N-No, please don't! You can't!" he began begging. Steven did not seriously want to go in without preparation, did he? It would not only hurt, it would  _injure_ him!

"Oh, **don't** worry so much. Knowing you, you'll like it even! Also, don't you want to please your diamond?" the other teased, while rubbing over the smooth behind of Lars.

"Y-Yes, my diamond," he whimpered. He was scared- why was the gem this sadistic to him? He heard some wet, lewd sounds from behind him- at least the gem didn't go in dry as well. Next, he felt something hard and warm against his entrance, pushing in slowly. At first it only burned, but it got worse. The diamond paid his cursing and crying no mind however and went on. "Please- no more!" the ambassador begged at the penetration. It was too much...

The diamond started caressing his back in an unmotivated effort to comfort him. " **Enjoy** it," he simply ordered. It wasn't the nicest thing to do, but Lars wouldn't know better anyway, he assumed. 

What the- "Yes, my diamond!" he whined and immediately  _enjoyed it,_ becoming like pudding in his love's arms. It still hurt like hell, but now he got off on that. Great, Steven had given him a new fetish. The other had at least some mercy and kept still, so the other could adjust. With his newfound liking for  _this_ pain though, the zombie began rubbing into the other one though and encouraged him to go on. "More~," he pleaded now.

The diamond snorted in amusement "Told you, you would like it, love." With that, he slid one arm beneath the other's stomach and pulled him up a little more, so thrusting into him would be easier. He wanted to go a bit easy on him, but the other pushed back into him and mewled. Granting his wish, he went harder- were Lars human, he would surely have bled by now. Well, he would have some real trouble sitting down and stuff, but Steven found it kind of funny. Also, the other would try to sit on his lap, which he had  _absolutely nothing_ against. He started running down his fingernails down the ambassador's back, creating dark pink lines on it. The other only began moaning harder at that. He was so happy, he didn't disobey him. He hated to  _really_ punish and hurt Lars. He didn't count this as a punishment- this was pleasurable. He was thinking about having to whip his boyfriend again. 

He leaned over Lars more, sucking and biting his back and marking him. Sadly, these kind of bruises only lasted mere seconds, because of his healing ability. So he could never give him any hickeys for real. Either way, it seemed to excite his love quite a lot, as he was mewling and moaning like mad. Thanks to his order, release seemed to be quite easy for Lars, as he had already. Now that he was overstimulated though, he wanted Steven to stop. The other denied his request and kept on driving into the cold body below him. Soon, he came as well and filled Lars up with his come- as he pulled out, it dripped out of him. He couldn't begin to care though; the maid would change the sheets tomorrow anyway. He lay down on his side and pulled Lars into his hug. The other had old and fresh tears on him and he smiled a little apologetically. After wiping that away, he kissed the other's nose. "You've done so well; submitting to me... I love you," he murmured, coming down from his high.

"Thank you, my diamond. I love you as well, although I am unable to walk anymore and everything hurts," the older one pouted. He crawled closer and wanted to be held more, needing this. 

"I'm sure you will manage. You have to! After all, tomorrow's the Beach-A-Palooza and we will attend. You'll have to serve me there as well- don't embarrass your diamond by failing. If you do everything right, you'll even get a reward~," the gem whispered.

"What kind of reward?" Lars asked like some kind of child. Steven answered him, saying they would fuse again. "Really?" he gasped and hugged him impossibly closer. They had never fused again since their first time. Lars had been too disturbed because of White at first and then there had been no opportunity to do so. They could technically fuse whenever they wanted, but Steven preferred being himself while doing his work. And he had to work all day more or less. 

"Yeah, but only if you behave well!" he reminded. Lars would do so anyway. He seldom slipped up and did stuff wrong. He perhaps called him Steven once in a month or forgot to bow, but that was it. Otherwise, he was very good at what he did. Soon, the two fell asleep and rested until morning. 

~~

"I still don't know, what to wear!" Lars whined. He was standing in front of his closet, regarding his various pink outfits. He only wore a white shirt and white trousers as of yet. Steven in comparison was fully dressed. He wore white pants, a pink shirt and an also pink cloak of sorts. 

"Just take anything, they  _all_ look well on you!" the diamond laughed. Lars was very keen on looking perfect, he knew. But this was ridiculous. He could just pick anything! After a while, he still couldn't decide and he decided for him. He went up to the closet and pulled  _his_ favorite out. It was a slim-fitting, deep pink vest and frock-coat with pink diamonds on it in an even darker tone. He pushed it towards Lars and said "This one! I like it very much."

"Thank you, my diamond- it's a good choice," he told him and put the clothes on  _finally_.

Steven took his hand and spun him around to look, whether he looked  _perfect_. He corrected the other's pink bow tie a little, before stating "Perfect! Now we can finally go." It was noon on Homeworld, so it was evening in Beach City already. They had to hurry up a bit or they would be late. They went to the throne-room, where five guards were waiting. They would accompany them in case something went wrong. After all, Pearl would be there. It were his best and favorite guards from his court- they should be able to do it. When they were all together, they warped of to the galaxy warp and then to the temple. Steven hated, what had become of the place- his old home had been completely destroyed and no one had rebuilt it. While the four Rose Quartz and one Amethyst guards stayed behind them, they walked to the festival, while holding hands. 

"It's so surreal to be back here again...," Lars pondered.

"Yeah... Homeworld is so different from this. And so much changed since I first left and you as well. But I'm happy, that we did and that I  _kidnapped_ you. Everything turned out quite well in the end," the hybrid noted. The undead one agreed and they walked on. It felt almost like that one time, Lars had come here and he had been killed. But nothing like that would happen today. The party's music got louder and a big crowd was gathered in front of the stage. It was nothing compared to Homeworld's festival a few months back, though. When they approached, many of the humans watched on in interest.

When Steven saw his dad, he immediately ran of to greet him and left his boyfriend alone. The latter wanted to follow of course, but Sadie approached him. Reluctantly, he stayed with her. The crowd should not be that big, that he would loose his diamond in it. "It's so nice to see you here! When Connie said you would come, I almost didn't believe it! I mean, you told us about being very busy and stuff. You look very... _official_? You know you could have come in something less formal, right? Not that I'm judging, it looks very pretty!" she exclaimed. She herself wore some sort of light, comfy dress.

"Oh uh, I kind of have to run around like this. My diamond wants me to show to which court I belong. But thanks, I like it as well," he told her.

"Really, you have to be so formal here as well? Can't you get a day off from that? It's not like many of those gems are even present- and Steven could just command them to not tell, right? Uh, we don't have to be like that, do we?" she questioned.

He blushed a tiny bit "Perhaps he could, but this isn't just an  _illusion_ I have to keep up at court. I just  _am_ like this. I would probably keep doing all of this, if I did not need to, as it has become a habit. And no, you don't need to follow etiquette here. Just don't insult or attack him; that wouldn't end well for you. But you may call him by his  _other name_ as well and stuff." 

"Do you ever call him Steven anymore? Isn't it weird to call your boyfriend something like 'your highness' all the time?" she laughed. 

"No. I usually don't, because I will be punished for doing so. If I do, it wasn't my intention. I don't think it's weird. I am addressed with Emerald often enough as well and Pink really is  _my_ diamond- no one else's~," he giggled. She shook her head at that in amusement and they went on to chat a little more. Soon, some more of their friends joined and they were standing in a circle. Lars really enjoyed being with them, but he quickly began missing his other half. He looked around- had he seriously lost him  _again_? It couldn't have been this hard to find him! He was permanently shapeshifted, so he wasn't even that small anymore and he wore bright pink stuff!

Jenny saw him looking concerned all of a sudden "What's wrong? Missing your bf already?" she giggled. Those two really were inseparable! It was rather adorable.

"Y-Yeah, kind of. I can't believe I lost him in this small of a party!" he admitted his failure. Also, where were the guards? At least two should have stayed with him...

Buck shrugged "Don't be concerned. I'm sure that mighty little king is alright- shouldn't he be like..  _super powerful_?" 

"Yes, he should- but he is only 1/2 diamond. I think I'll go looking for him. Something seems wrong- our guards aren't here- I-," he began saying nonsenseically. Something was  _off_. The guards had strict orders to protect the ambassador  _as well_. By all means, they should be right behind him. He left his friends alone and searched. Where was Greg? He also seemed to be gone. Everywhere he looked on the beach, no one was to be found! Oh stars- what was going on? Careful not to upset anyone, he pulled out his sword and strapped it on his back- this wasn't right! He went a bit further into town and the sounds of shouting in a back alley attracted his attention. There was no such thing as gangs or robbers in Beach City-  _it had to be him_. Silently, he sneaked further into the dark alley. He had been vigorously trained by Homeworld for exactly this. 

When the sounds got louder, he kept close to a wall and looked around the corner. There were their guards- but only  _four_? Where was the Amethyst? It did not matter- he had to find Steven! They were aggressively debating in Homeworld's official tongue. He understood like half of it. They were definitely debating Pink Diamond, the ambassador, Amethyst, shattering and poofing. What the hell? Had his diamond been hurt and they thought a back alley was a secure place for him? He leaned a lot further around the corner- they were watching  _something_ that was on the floor and he had to know, what! It was...  _Greg_? He was lying on the floor and seemingly unconscious. Had he attacked his own son- no. Not Greg; he would never do that! Also, an Amethyst's gem lay next to him. He could have  _never_ poofed her. A cat near them made a sound and two of the Rose Quartzes turned. He quickly retreated, but not before seeing the pink glistening of a gem in one of it's hands- _Pink_ _Diamond_! How- how had he been poofed? Greg had no chance of doing so and the rebels were down at the festival. It must have been their  _own guards_. But what should he do now? If Steven had not been able to fight them... and he could not call Homeworld- there could be a bigger plot at play.  _He_ had to fight them. 

He got his katana out; if he did this right, he had a chance. He could take down one of them sneakily. He picked out the one, who held his diamond. She had her gem positioned at her naval, he knew. Quickly and too fast for them to notice, he rushed out of the shadows, went up behind her and rammed his sword right through her back. It didn't just  _poof_ her. This wasn't like his lame training sword- it was made out of an enhanced metal, which could easily shatter gems and that's exactly what he did. They would be shattered anyway once their treason was found out. Before anyone could react he killed her and grasped his pink gem, that almost hit the floor. Not knowing what else to do, he threw it in his hair- if he died, it was relatively safe there. He went on to aggressively advance on the next Rose Quartz and shouted "What did you do to him?"

The attacked RQ pulled out her shield and blocked the attack, before another exclaimed "What does it look like? You know, I like you! I give you one chance to give him back and run or we'll kill you, ambassador!" He would never do such a thing. Instead he advanced on the other again and struck so hard, her shield broke. Those Era 1 gems stood no chance against a sword like his, that had been improved technologically. When he struck again, he made sure to aim for her gem as well. That however gave the two others enough time to fuse into a stronger foe. When he jumped at her this time, he was catapulted backwards and onto the street by her shield. He managed to catch himself somewhat, but his sword had flown further behind- nearer to the party. Still, he had to get it back, even if that led the traitors there and it endangered the humans. "Just give up! He doesn't deserve your dedication- do you even know, how much we Rose Quartzes had to suffer? We were imprisoned for thousands of years, killed, tortured for information! Just because he fucked up!" the fusion shouted. It was tall- it was even taller than Opal.

He needed to protect his diamond! Despite being underpowered now, he still struck at her multiple times. The humans behind him began screaming; they had realized, that this was a real fight. The Barrigas watched on in horror, as their son flew through the air repeatedly and was bashed into the nearest wall. The CG's were equally as shocked. No one really knew, what to do. The diamond was their friend, but also still a bit of an adversary...

His ribs were broken, he could tell by the pain. He wouldn't make it much longer like this. Still, he attacked her stupid shield again- he only needed to strike like once or twice more and it would be gone for a while! But she was quicker and bashed him into the floor- He felt his spine hurting, right where it had been snapped that first time. He was done for! If she hit him there once more, it would certainly break again and kill him. He didn't have enough time to dodge the attack-

Suddenly, someone came to his rescue and impaled the traitorous RQ from behind-  _Pearl_? He watched on in awe, as the other Crystal Gems came and fought her. It seemed so effortless... But he guessed, they had an advantage. He wanted to stand up, but his back said  _no_. It hurt too much. This was  _not_ a good sign. He crawled back a little and leaned against a wall. He just wasn't made to take this much damage. He could take a lot more than a human, but not as much as a real gem. Tiredly, he watched on, as the CG's defeated his foe for good and collected their gems. He told them about Greg lying in the alley and they got him as well. Garnet helped him by carrying him to the nearest bench, so he could sit better. Anxiously, he regarded them. It was so easy for them now to kill him and his diamond...

"Laramie-! A-Are you alright, son?" his father shouted, as he and his mom came running to him.

"I-It's fine... Just- my spine is fucked. Pink can heal it, though. 'Just have to wait for him to reform," he began saying in pain. This was worse than the whipping, he observed.

Pearl asked him in terror "He was poofed? What happened? Why did they attack you?"

"Y-Yes, he was. I don't know, but I think they wanted revenge for the Rose Quartzes captivity. I never could have guessed, they would do this- they were our best guards! B-But thank you... I would have been dead without you guys," he explained. Carefully, he fished inside his hair and got his diamond out to inspect it. Luckily, it had no cracks or the like. It was so scary to have Steven like this. He was so vulnerable. He fished more in it and decided to phone the diamonds. He couldn't keep this from them,  _orders and such_. 

"What are you doing now?" Amethyst asked. 

"C-Calling the diamonds. They have to know of this- Steven might take weeks to reform and I can't stay here with him without guards or anything. And I have to warn them of the Rose Quartzes...," he whimpered and just called all three of the diamonds at once. This would be fun. One after the other, their Pearls answered the call and upon seeing his state and holding his diamond, they went to get their diamonds in shock. When everyone was there he stated "There has been a slight, uh problem. Our RQ guards were traitors- t-they isolated Pink Diamond and poofed him somehow. I shattered two of them, the other two were poofed by the Crystal Gems. The Rose Quartzes are planning something; they want revenge."

White demanded " **Come back** to Homeworld immediately-"

But he had to interrupt her "I-I can't- I can't move much or I'll snap my own spine. Please, don't order me to come! And where would we even go? Obviously, there are traitors on Homeworld, White Diamond- I can't go to our court like this!"

They were offended at him interrupting her at first, but quickly understood. White went on "Well then, **forget** that order. But he can't stay there either..." Helplessly, she regarded her sisters. 

Blue asked "Do you have any secure place, you could perhaps stay?" If Homeworld was not an option, they had to secure Earth and the Crystal Gems had just redeemed themselves.

"I-I could stay at my parents house, I guess. But that's not secure. Or I could stay with the Crystals, but I don't know about that," he admitted. He trusted them, but not completely. They were still a danger.

Yellow quickly advised "Well, then we'll make it secure! You will get  _trustworthy_ guards from us. I don't really approve of Pink Diamond staying with you, however. We could take him as well!" If something went wrong, they were helpless and Pink would be endangered.

He began begging "N-No, please! D-Don't take him away from me!" He couldn't live through this without seeing his diamond being alright.

White however said "No, ambassador. I will take him. It is simply too dangerous! I trust you deeply, but you are in no condition to protect him. I will come to Earth, get him and give you some of my guards and a Pearl to care of you. You  **will** give him to me, that's an order. I'll see you in half an hour, stay there." They ended the call and Lars felt increasingly like having a panic attack. He couldn't give his diamond away! What if the diamonds were in on this as well and would shatter him? But he would not be able to disobey. 

Seeing her son cry, his mom said "Honey, it'll be alright! We will take good care of you with the help of those gems and I'm sure, your diamond will be fine. That White woman seemed rather nice and trustworthy to me! A-And you did this weird merging with her, right? Don't you like and trust her then?" 

"I-I do, but... I'm still scared he will be hurt- I can't lose him, mom-," he admitted. He knew that she was to be trusted, but either way...

Pearl tried to offer comfort as well "Yes, White Diamond would never hurt him. B-back then, she really loved Pink! I'm sure, he will be fine. And really, you can't protect him like this." She still felt rather bad for killing the boy- it had been wrong. But now she would do anything, to gain their trust again. 

He nodded and while they went on to comfort him, they waited for WD. Soon, she arrived with ten guards and a Pearl from her court. Weren't ten a bit too much? "No. I assure you, that ten are exactly appropriate after what happened. Now, **give** me Pink's gem... I know this is hard for you and I'm sorry, that there is no other way to handle this. It won't be too long, I promise. It will take a maximum of three weeks, I guess," White assured him. Without wanting to, he gave her the diamond. He wished desperately, he could come too. But he could not warp like this. It would most likely end with him dead. And the longer he stayed dead before revival, the harder it got. He felt anxiety swelling up inside of him at seeing her close her hand over  _his_ diamond. "No, don't worry! I will take very good care of him. And my Pearl can tend to your  _every_ need, until he is there again. You know what? If you like her, you can even have her as a reward for your selfless service. If you don't, you can choose another or none at all. Now, I really must go. Stay strong, little Emerald!" she went on to say and pinched his cheek. Gracefully, she walked back to the temple's warp-pad. 

Now, the long wait began.

 

 

 


	13. Waiting

The waiting was killing him more than his back was. They had somehow managed to get him back 'home' and into his bed without killing him. He had only lain there for about five hours, but he was already fed up with it. He could hardly move and his mom would come in every half an hour or so and look after him. He had at least negotiated, that only one guard and the Pearl would stay in his room itself. The Pearl was beautiful to be honest. She had long, flowing hair in a color similar to his own. She was rather lithe and wore a something similar to Yellow Pearl only in a very light pink. Her gem sat at her belly and she honestly had the voice of an angel. She was perfect in every conceivable way. 

Currently, she sat at the edge of his bed and did nothing. He had ordered her to sit down; she should not stand for weeks straight. But other from that, he did not know how to approach her at all. Still, he gave it a shot "So... did you only belong to WD before or someone else?"

"Yes. Pearls are not being reused. If the owner dislikes them, they will be destroyed," she stated dreamily. 

"So, if I say I don't want you, you'll be shattered?!" he asked in utter disbelief. White could not do this.

"No, as I am not truly yours yet. But if you want me and later decide differently, I will be," she stated calmly.

He had no need for a Pearl and did not feel like owning someone. He'd much rather be  _owned himself_. "Good, because I don't even want to own anyone. Don't get me wrong; it's good, that you are here. But once I am healthy and everything, I don't need you anymore and my diamond will not like this either," he added.

She smiled at him sweetly "Well, then I have to make sure I please you as long as I'm here, my Emerald, so I can stay! I'd much rather be with you... Please, give me something to do for you. I can do  _everything_." He asked her to elaborate on the  _everything_. "I can sing or dance for you, deliver messages and help your organic relatives. Or I could offer you  _bodily_   _comfort_. I was told you and Pink Diamond are quite close. It must be hard to be alone all of a sudden...," she assured him. 

"B-Bodily comfort?! You don't really mean, that you would sleep with me, right?" he asked in shock. He had not known, Pearls were also used for  _that_. How did that even work? The diamonds are usually far taller- no, he should not think about that. That was horrible! Either way, she confirmed his assumption with a nod. "Uh... Well, I'm not into girls anyway, so don't worry about that," he awkwardly laughed.

"Oh, should I shapeshift for you? I can take on any form- even that of your diamond. And I promise, I will be very gentle to not hurt you- or the opposite, if that is what you desire?" she proposed far too innocently.

"Stars no! No shapeshifting and no sex! I don't mind cuddling and stuff, but not  _this_. Uh... why don't we watch a movie or something? Then you can comfort me  _without_ selling your body," he pointed out. Perhaps Homeworld was more fucked up than he had thought... She agreed and promptly lay down next to him. Once he started some dumb horror movie of his, she started patting his hair and got closer to cuddle. She lay an arm around his middle and started caressing his arms or waist. It made him tense up at first, but he guessed this was only innocent. And it kind of felt nice. He had no intentions on going further, though. Ignoring the movie, he asked "So, what did you do before coming to me?"

"Oh, I lived at WD's court and tended to her needs. White Pearl is quite unable to do all of that alone, so the spare Pearls help. But I have only emerged a short while ago anyway. I think, it has been five months or so," she answered.

"You are five moths old?!" he gasped in shock. Oh stars, had he really slept with her... "This is all super weird," he noted.

"But why? As I understand, you fill exactly the same role for your diamond and do our work. You also tend to his needs, do small tasks and sleep with him," she stated matter-o-factly.

"B-But that's different! He actually loves me and I love him!" he felt offended. He was doing a Pearl's work, but he was not actually one!

She giggled "My Emerald, isn't that always the case?" Every Pearl came to love their owner after a while. And the feelings were often enough returned as well. They perhaps weren't the  _only_ partner of their owner, but at least one of them. 

He blushed helplessly. He really was a glorified Pearl, wasn't he? "But wait, you can't love me! We've known each other for a few hours a-and I'm not available anymore!" he warned her. She only shrugged and started caressing his arm again. Steven would so not approve of this. He would definitely give her back to White and not choose another one, either. He should have declined the offer right away. After some time his mom came in again, but stopped to look at the two- what was going on?

"Uh, honey...Is this someone I should know more about? I-I thought you and Universe were, you know...," she trailed of. 

He shook his head "No. I am still together with my diamond, don't worry. She is only a Pearl, who serves me a bit for now."

"Serving- in what way?" she asked in concern. The girl was far too pretty and wore a skintight leotard...

"Well... she  _could_ serve me in a lot of ways, but I'm not using her as some kind of prostitute, mom. She only gives me a bit of comfort and tends to my wounds," he weirdly said. Stars, his mom seemed to have very little faith in him.

She went a bit closer and extended her hand to greet the beautiful gem. She didn't understand though and cocked her head in confusion. Mrs. Barriga took back her hand at that and told her "And you are alright with being here? If you need any help, you can come to me, sweetie!"

The Pearl looked at Lars and asked for permission to speak. That felt awfully familiar to him. She then proceeded to add "My feelings about this don't matter. I am here to serve and protect my Emerald. Even if his orders endanger me, I will follow them.  I don't require assistance in that- if I did, I would be dysfunctional and should be shattered for my failure. But thank you very much for the offer, human."

He would need to tell her, she could not talk about death so much in front of his mom. She was still quite shook at his injuries. Her eyes had widened and she looked at her son "Laramie! You wouldn't let her get hurt, would you?"

"Uh...it kind of her job to obey me and if she fails, I can't prevent her getting punished or killed. See, I am punished by my diamond as well, although he doesn't really like it. It's just the way it is!" he told her sadly. Really, he could do nothing for her. The guards would probably kill her right away, as they had extremely strict orders right now. 

"But... Steven- the diamond would not actually kill you, would he? H-He seems far too innocent and it seems unfair! Those gems are immortal; you aren't really, if he does not resurrect you!" she felt scared for her son. She had come to terms with him being there, but not like this.

He sighed and frowned at which the Pearl promptly hugged him. She did so only slightly though and only his waist- his ribs were broken after all. "Mom... It would have to be a grand mistake, so that I would be actually killed. Had I failed in protecting my diamond or had I betrayed the Diamond Authority for example, I would have been. So don't worry, as neither of that will happen. And gems are not immortal either. There is a difference between poofing and shattering. The last one is irreversible and kills for certain," he explained to her.

"B-But... you shattered two of those people- Y-You  _killed_ them? This is horrendous-!" she began stammering. She had seen those pinkish shards lying on the floor. How could he have done that!

"Yes, I killed them. But they deserved it for their treason and the other two will be as well, anyway. Please don't question my decision. I had to protect my diamond and they were planning to shatter him!" he exclaimed. His mom looked clearly distressed and excused herself, before going out of the room. After that, she did not come by every hour anymore. 

~~

The next days really sucked. His wounds were healing extremely slow and he felt bored. He couldn't even leave his bed! The Pearl did her best to comfort him to no avail. It just wasn't the same as having Steven around. Occasionally, he would abuse the direct diamond line to phone White and get info. He wanted to see Steven and how he was fairing, even if it kind of annoyed WD. Thankfully she liked him and showed him the Pink Diamond every time. She also told him of other happenings on Homeworld. They had apparently located more traitorous RQ's and shattered them one by one. No other type of gem seemed to be in on it luckily. Still, Steven would be sad at being betrayed by his own gems like that. 

Other times, he was visited by his friends. They were a little freaked out about the guards all around his house, but came nevertheless. They were just happy to see him this frequently again. Still, after two and a half weeks, he could barely take it anymore. His days mainly consisted on letting himself be held by his Pearl and her cooing supporting stuff to him. Some of his wounds had healed, but not his bones and it still hurt. He could sit up, but not walk around yet. He was so fed up with it. He missed Steven so much, it almost made him mad. Also, what if he would never reform? He had never been poofed before! Or perhaps his stupid mom would appear instead! What would he do then? He seriously considered ordering the Pearl to end him in that case. 

One day, Sadie came over with her cool friends, Ronaldo and Connie again. They knew Lars was not doing very well and wanted to cheer him up as best as possible. He was currently cocooned in the Pearl's grip and only looked up, when they called his name. He was a mess. In their opinion, the gem did not do a very good job at comforting the other. Sadie softly said "Hey... still no word yet?" He shook his head. "Well, we are positive he will come back soon! Lars, he wouldn't like you to be in this state. W-Why don't we do something fun, hm?" she proposed.

"I don't care...," he only brought forth. Nothing would make him happy anyway! He let himself be cuddled again. Hugging the Pearl  _sucked_. She was neither as warm, nor as soft as Steven. 

Jenny wasn't having it "Come on, Lars! Don't get all depressed on us. Look, we even brought you a new movie of those you like so much!" Determined, she walked over to the TV and put the horror-movie in. It had  _just_ been released! Barriga could not play dead forever. When they got no reaction whatsoever, they still proceeded. Buck lowered the blinds of Lars' windows, while Sadie and Connie ran downstairs to get sweets. Ronaldo and Sour Cream then pulled over pillows and stuff to Lars' bed, so they could sit on it. 

"You won't leave me alone, will you?" the zombie murmured. He briefly considered calling the guards, but did not. This might be better than doing nothing all day. 

Connie happily chirped a "Nope!" before everyone sat down around his bed and sometimes on it as well. At least Sadie and Jenny had lain down on each side of him and his Pearl-  _how rude_. When the movie began, he even watched on a little. Well, perhaps this was  _fun_. He even laughed, when Buck and Sour Cream became scared of the monsters in it. 

This didn't go by unnoticed by Jenny next to him "See? Now you are glad, we are here!" Reluctantly, he agreed. This really was the most fun he had had in days. Nevertheless he missed his boyfriend. If he would not reform soon, it would be quite troublesome. He should not take longer than three weeks- that in itself was extremely long. What if he never returned and he had to lie here like a cripple for the rest of eternity? He had to make plans- but no. He was positive right now, everything would turn out well, which was due to his improved mood.

Even when the movie was finished, the others stayed and chatted. Jenny had the brilliant idea to play truth or dare and the zombie was  _forced_  to play as well. 

He mainly chose truth- it was better than dare, he thought. He could not really do anything like this anyway. The first question to him was, if he had an affair with the Pearl by Jenny herself, which he denied vehemently. He the proceeded to ask Ronaldo, if he had a crush- he agreed, but did not tell who. Next came a few boring questions, until Buck dared Sadie to hug the guard. The guard however was almost three meters in height and looked like some kind of brute. Still, Sadie went over and asked to be allowed to hug him and she gladly complied. Next Lars was asked, whether he and Steven had ever slept with each other and who was top, at which the two gems present became  _very_ interested. He shouted "What the hell, Sadie?! What kind of question is that-," but they warned him, he had to answer nevertheless. "Ugh,  _fine_. Yes, we have had sex and he is the top. Are you happy now?" he said, blushing furiously. The others giggled like mad- who would have thought Steven would do that? Also, they were quite proud of themselves, Lars wasn't so depressed anymore. He then felt truly evil and dared Ronaldo to kiss  _anyone_ in the room.

"What- no!" Fryman at first declined, but he did not want to get a punishment. He chose Jenny, but she did a disgusted sound and did not want to. Still, Ronaldo kissed her on the hand- Lars had sadly forgotten to specify, where he had to kiss. After a few more rounds, Ronaldo asked Connie "Did you ever have a crush on Universe?" Connie looked a bit scaredly at Lars, but he did not look that angry. 

"Y-Yeah, but only in the beginning, when I got to know him. After we fought, it just never was the same again. S-Sorry Lars," she added, but he shrugged. Why should he care about that; it was so far in the past. She then proceeded to ask him once it was his turn "How did you and Steven even end up together and when? You never told us!"

"Oh...I guess he liked me for a long time, but I was not really into him. Found him kind of annoying even. When he uh,  _took me prisoner_ it started, I think. He kind of got really affectionate and stuff and I developed feelings for him as well. Before I left for Earth, he told me of his feelings. When I died because of Pearl and he revived me again, I was done for. I told him, I fell in love with him as well and we got together. That's it, I think," he sadly said. And now, he would never see his love again, because he was dead. He looked a bit to the side, averting his eyes. He dared Buck next to cuddle with Sour Cream for the remainder of the game, which they promptly followed. 

After even more questions came about his relationship to Steven, he couldn't hold himself together anymore. Buck asked him, what he loved about the diamond and he  _almost_ began sobbing. Jenny punched Buck at that, being angry at him. "No, i-it's alright. I love  _everything_ about him.  He is very kind and loving, but he is also strong and stuff. He isn't as frightening as the other diamonds and he cares for his people. And he's always happy! Well, sometimes he gets angry, but I usually can calm him down. He even lets me do stuff, I really shouldn't- l-like letting me sit on his throne. Then he also gave me this incredibly high rank and saved my life twice now. I-I'm sure there is more, which I only forgot," he admitted. He really loved his diamond and he felt stupid for almost crying because of it. Especially the girls found that to be really cute and tried to comfort him. After some more time spend playing, he was asked by Connie if they had ever fused and when. "Y-Yeah. When we uh...  _kissed_ it kind of just happened. But that was very awkward, as we were in our private rooms and a maid was present. And it happened before cross-fusion was even legalized. So we had to order her to shut up about it and we could not do much. My diamond promised to fuse at the Beach-A-Palooza with me again, but you know how that turned out...," he confessed. 

They kept playing until it became dark outside and even longer, but they also watched more movies. No one really wanted to leave Lars alone, as he would just go back to sulking. Lars was currently sitting on his back, cushioned with lots of pillows, so it would not hurt. He had abandoned the Pearl for now- he did not need her comfort right now. His friends helped him enough. Instead she also watched the movie while sitting on the floor. A knock on the door got their attention, but it was probably just his mom. However, it was someone completely different. When the door opened, everyone who looked at it gasped in shock. His Pearl sprang up and immediately bowed, which made the ambassador look as well- "S-Steven?!" he exclaimed, even forgetting to follow any of the etiquette. This had to be a shapeshifter- no one had told him, he had reformed! He wished he could run up to him, but even turning hurt a bit.

"The one and only!" the diamond said in amusement, ignoring Lars' error. 

When he sprinted up to the other, Lars interrupted him "B-But how? No one told me about you having reformed!" This could not be real- perhaps he fell asleep.

"Because I asked them to not do that. This is a surprise!" the other explained, but Lars still looked kind of skeptic towards him. He pulled his shirt up, showing him his gem. "Come on- it really is me!" he laughed and the zombie seemed finally convinced. He grinned and stretched his arms out, not being able to leave the bed. Steven knew somewhat of what had happened, but not everything. When he had heard Lars was on Earth, he immediately ran off to go there and left White Diamond behind. Apparently, he hugged the other too hard though, as he did a pained yelp. "I'm sorry- I-I thought you would have healed on your own already. I kind of didn't wait for White to tell me the whole story- I just  _had_ to get here," he looked like a kicked puppy.

"I-It's alright, my diamond. Only my ribs are broken and my spine is also quite damaged. How much do you know?" the other asked. He hoped, he would not get punished for messing up before.

While the others watched on in interest, the diamond told him "I know, that you rescued me and that the Crystal Gems helped! But I don't know much else. Care to fill me in?"

"I noticed you were gone and went to search for you, but then I saw what the RQ's had done to you. I-I shattered two of them, but the other two fused and I stood no chance. I guess, she bashed me into the floor and walls a few times too much. Had she hit me like once more, I would have been killed. But then Pearl came to my rescue and the others as well. But it was a bit too late for me. White took you away from me and I had to stay here- I could not warp like this. Since then, I stayed here with a few guards and a Pearl. I'm so sorry, I left your side and also for even wanting to go here! My diamond, this is all my fault!" he blamed himself. Had he not been this enthusiastic to go here, none of it would have happened.

The others wanted to disagree there. The zombie should not be blamed for it- he had given his very best! Steven could not really consider punishing him, could he? However, tears started rolling down the diamond's face, falling onto his boyfriend, as he sat beside him. "None of it is your fault!  **Don't** ever say that again!  _I_ should have been more careful. I should have gotten suspicious. The four guards told me, something attacked the Amethyst in the ally and I went to expect it with my dad- I was so  _naive_. They just fused together and I could not do much, because I had to protect my dad... It was so easy for them to poof me! You were so very brave and smart in comparison to that- you could have died, Lars! And I would not have been able to resurrect you anymore. I'm so sorry for putting you through this... I don't even know, how to ever repay you for this!" he went on to sob. He could have lost him! 

The zombie wiped his tears away, letting them run down his own hands. Steven's tears had far stronger healing attributes than his spit- it instantly healed his broken bones again. "I don't need any reward- you being well is enough of one as is," he chuckled. 

The others only made "Awww~," at that. 

"No! You have to get something real. L-Lars... if you want to, I will speak you free of belonging to me. You can stay home, if you want to! I know, that you probably don't want to accompany back to Homeworld after all of this...," he promised him. It was the highest gift he could possibly give to one of his subjects.

"Are you mad, my diamond!? Homeworld  _is_ my home! And I want to be yours! I didn't almost die for you, so you could get rid of me this easily! _I love you_!" the ambassador joked. Steven was delusional! 

"I love you, too," the ruler smiled and dragged the other into a kiss. He had longed to do this for so long. He had been trapped in his gem for weeks completely alone and he had missed his other half most. Without really intending to, the two of them fused. Stars really didn't mind to come into existence though- he felt so full of love and happiness! Steven and Lars were just glad to have each other again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over- this is the last chapter! I had lots of fun writing it, even if it was intended to be shorter than this :D
> 
> If you have any suggestions for another story about this ship, feel free to comment and I might include it in my next story!


End file.
